Celebrity chef Mario Batali agrees to $600,000 settlement over sexual harassment

Celebrity chef Mario Batali and his business partner have agreed to pay $600,000 to at least 20 former employees after an investigation found their Manhattan restaurants were rife with sexual harassment, the New York attorney general announced on Friday.

The culture of unwanted groping, kissing, hugging, sexual advances and explicit comments at Babbo, Lupa and Del Posto broke New York human rights laws, Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

After waiters and other workers came forward with complaints, Batali sold his stake in his restaurants in 2019. Del Posto closed in April.

“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 a statement provided by the attorney general’s office.

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