After two years of demonstrations and inflatable cockroaches outside of his New York French restaurant Daniel, owner Daniel Boulud has settled a federal lawsuit accusing his restaurant of discriminating against nonwhite employees.
As part of the settlement, which is to be announced later today by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Boulud has agreed to set up standards and procedures for hiring and promotion, implement sensitivity training for managers and dole out an 8 percent raise for busboys and runners.
Interestingly, workers in the case were assisted in organizing by the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC), which has recently been under scrutiny itself. Formed in 2002 to help former Windows on the World employees open their own restaurant, Colors, those employees now claim that ROC and a group of Italian investors tricked workers out of their investment.