Chef Mario Batali And Partner To Pay $600K In Sex Harassment Case

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Disgraced chef Mario Batali and his former business partner Joe Bastianich have to serve up $600,000 in a sexual harassment settlement reached by the state attorney general.

Twenty former employees of Batali and Bastianich, many of whom worked at restaurants in Greenwich Village, are receiving $600,000 to split after an investigation concluded into allegations that three NYC restaurants under the pair's ownership permitted a sexualized culture of misconduct and harassment, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday.

Batali and Bastianich's management company, B&B Hospitality, must pay $600,000 to former employees at the three following Lower Manhattan restaurants:

• Babbo (Greenwich Village): 110 Waverly Place
• Lupa (Greenwich Village): 170 Thompson Street
• Del Posto (Permanently Closed/Chelsea): 85 10th Avenue

“Celebrity and fame does not absolve someone from following the law. Sexual harassment is unacceptable for anyone, anywhere — no matter how powerful the perpetrator,”James said in a news release. “Batali and Bastianich permitted an intolerable work environment and allowed shameful behavior that is inappropriate in any setting. Every individual deserves to work in a safe environment, and today's agreement marks one more step towards remedying workplace harassment."

The monetary agreement reached Friday was the culmination of a four-year investigation into allegations against Batali and Bastianich.

Between 2016 and 2019, multiple employees at the three restaurants witnessed or personally experienced unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate touching, and sexually explicit comments from managers and other coworkers, said the Attorney General's office.

“When my female coworkers and I were being sexually harassed by multiple people at Del Posto, the restaurant’s leadership made us feel as if we were asking for it — as if it is a rite of passage to be harassed at work,” Juliana Imperati, a former line cook at Del Posto, said in the news release. “Sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation should never be normalized in any industry or workplace.

In one instance, Batali made explicit comments to a female server, grabbed her hand while she was serving him, and pulled it toward his crotch, the AG's office said. In another case, he showed a male server at Lupa an unwelcome pornographic video, the AG's office said.

Batali announced in 2017 that he was stepping away from the running of his restaurants after four women accused him of inappropriate touching.

James said that B&B management failed to take appropriate action when confronted with reports of sexual harassment, and "discouraged the reporting of such incidents."

“Throughout the course of my employment at Del Posto, I endured constant, escalating sexual harassment,” said Brianna Pintens, a former server at Del Posto, said in a news release. “Management routinely ignored these behaviors, made excuses for the perpetrators, and often used victim-blaming as a way to avoid having to deal with a workplace culture rooted in fear and humiliation."

Batali has not released a statement about the settlement.