Las Vegas Weekly

February 3, 2009 · 5:57 AM

Morning Call: Robert De Niro and Nobu settle waiters’ lawsuit for $2.5 million

By Robin Leach

Robert De Niro and chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

Photo: TVT

In the past several months, class-action lawyers have been battling celebrity chefs and restaurant investors over tip pooling. Now actor Robert De Niro and his business partner, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, are going to shell out $2.5 million to settle one claim.

Other lawsuits filed by aggressive lawyers -- all in New York -- still to be heard or settled involve celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and his Mesa Grill, which has an outpost at Caesars Palace; Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, who has Craftsteak at the MGM Grand; mogul Jay Z’s 40/40 Club, which had a Palazzo location; and chef Jean Georges, who has the Prime branch here at the Bellagio and is opening two restaurants at MGM’s CityCenter.

In Nobu and De Niro’s case, two waiters sued on behalf of hundreds of workers at three Nobu restaurants in Manhattan. The claim was that the waiters were forced to share tips with management, and Nobu didn’t pay overtime claims. There are 16 Nobu locations worldwide, including one at the Hard Rock Hotel.

The lawyers received a handsome payout from the lawsuit, and current and past employees will receive an average of $3,300 each. None of the cases involve Las Vegas properties.

Jean Georges paid $1.75 million after eight waiters at five of his New York restaurants had lawyers file suit over similar tipping procedures. Pop superstar Justin Timberlake faces a legal fight over tipping at his Southern Hospitality BBQ restaurant in Manhattan, a branch of which he’s planning to open this year at the Monte Carlo.

“This is simply all a wretched case of greedy lawyers going after deep-pocketed celebrities be they television chefs or the stars who back them,” one food industry expert told me.

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