Patsy's Italian Restaurant

Patsy’s Italian Restaurant Is Allegedly Harassing Staff and Stealing Tips | Eater NY

"Longstanding Midtown institution since 1944 and once a Frank Sinatra go-to, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant has been hit with two lawsuits alleging a pattern of discriminatory conduct and wage-and-hour violations. The discrimination complaint, filed September 16 by Albanians from Kosovo — Kreshnik Hoti (on staff since 2018) and Desiart Ymeraga (since 2017) — accuses owners and management of harassing, belittling, insulting, and abusing staff, and claims co-owner Sal Scognamillo’s “deep-seated hatred” of Albanians created a hostile work environment; coworkers allegedly warned the plaintiffs when hired not to tell owners they were Albanian, and when their ethnicity was learned they were assigned menial tasks other non-Albanian servers were not required to do. The suit quotes Scognamillo allegedly saying “all Albanians deserve a bullet” and “deserve to fuck their relatives,” calling the plaintiffs “stupid” and “gay,” and allegedly telling employees to taunt and harass them, behavior the plaintiffs say caused emotional distress and led them to quit; they seek damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial, and their lawyer Maimon Kirschenbaum said the restaurant’s behavior “goes way beyond the norm.” The separate class-action wage-and-hours complaint alleges systemic tip theft and payroll manipulation — altering time and pay records, diverting tips into the defendants’ own fund, running tip reports before tables settled, forcing tip splits with ineligible employees (including owners and managers), underpaying overtime, failing to pay required side-work hours, and instructing employees to clock out mid-shift and clock back in later or face reduced shifts or firing; records were handwritten from 2019 through early 2024 and allegedly used to cover up theft after the restaurant went digital, and the plaintiffs say at least 40 employees are affected and seek unpaid overtime and tips, FLSA damages, and related fees. Editor’s note clarifies that co-owner/manager Joseph Scognamillo and co-owner/attorney Lisa are named in the wage-and-hours suit but not individually in the discrimination complaint." - Melissa McCart