Mixed Ruling for Smith & Wollensky in Class Action
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While the Smith & Wollensky restaurant group won a court victory yesterday when a Manhattan judge stopped a class action on behalf of its nonwhite employees, the federal magistrate judge, James Francis, did allow a fired part-time waiter to bring suit on behalf of nonwhite employees at one of the group’s restaurants: the Park Avenue Café.
Situated at 63rd Street, the restaurant is currently operating under the name Park Avenue Winter.
In a lawsuit filed in 2006, the former waiter, Mohammed Rahman, claimed he was “subjected to hostility from managers, chefs, and other supervisory personnel” who made demeaning remarks about him being Muslim and South Asian, according to the decision. Mr. Rahman said he also faced criticism for not drinking. He alleges a manager told him that “someone who could not taste wine should not be working there,” the decision recounted.
Mr. Rahman worked at the restaurant between 1998 and 2005, and then was fired for allegedly stealing a gift certificate, according to court records. A finding by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cast doubt on the claim that he stole anything. The commission’s report added that “there is reasonable cause to believe” Mr. Rahman was fired because of “his race, national origin and/or religion.”
Mr. Rahman is not the only waiter at the restaurant to allege discrimination. A New York magazine Web log reported last week that three Bangladeshi waiters and captains at the restaurant were claiming they were discriminated against by being fired or having their hours cut drastically. A lawyer for Mr. Rahman estimated that about 50 current and former employees were covered in the class suing the Park Avenue Café. But the court decision prevents the class from including nonwhite employees at other Smith & Wollensky restaurants. There are six restaurants belonging to the Smith & Wollensky group in New York and more than a dozen nationally.
“To the extent the judge hasn’t allowed a national class, we are disappointed,” the lawyer, Krishnan Chittur, said.
He said Mr. Rahman now works as a physician’s assistant in Manhattan.
