A former captain and expediter at Cesar, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant on Hudson Street where a tasting menu runs up to $368 a head, says he and dozens of coworkers were shorted on wages, tips and overtime pay. Oscar Molina, who says he was fired in July, is now the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit accusing the restaurant's parent company of a pattern of wage theft that could stretch back through its entire two-year run.
Lawsuit Accuses Cesar of Underpaying and Skimming Tips
The suit, formally filed July 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under docket number 1:2026cv06329, names 333 Hospitality Group LLC, which does business as Cesar, along with chef Cesar Ramirez and his wife and business partner, Adriana Rodriguez, according to court filings tracked by PacerMonitor. Molina alleges the restaurant paid employees below minimum wage, cheated staff out of overtime, and illegally shared tips with managers — a practice New York's Hospitality Industry Wage Order regulations flatly prohibit, since managers, supervisors and non-service employees are barred from touching gratuities at all. The lawsuit also claims Ramirez forced employees to understate the number of hours they actually worked, according to allegations in the suit reported by the New York Post. Molina says he hopes to recover his and his coworkers' stolen wages and tips.
The proposed class could include as many as 40 people, according to the lawsuit, and attorney Michael DiGiulio has said the class covers all past and present service employees at Cesar. At least three current employees are named as part of that potential class, per the same reporting. Under New York's 2026 wage rules, food service workers in the city must be paid a direct cash wage of at least $11.35 per hour before any tip credit applies, with the full minimum sitting at $17.00 an hour — floors that would make several of the lawsuit's allegations straightforward violations if proven.
A Familiar Opponent for Ramirez's Legal Team
Molina's case isn't the first time attorney Daniel Maimon Kirschenbaum of Joseph & Kirschenbaum LLP has taken on Ramirez. Kirschenbaum previously represented former employees of Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare in a 2014 wage-and-hour class action against the chef, according to Joseph & Kirschenbaum LLP. That earlier Brooklyn Fare labor case, filed by employees against Ramirez and then-partner Moe Issa, ended in an undisclosed settlement. Ramirez had worked as head chef there since 2009 before the restaurant earned three Michelin stars, staying on through 2023.
Judge Jennifer H. Rearden has since referred the new case to the SDNY Mediation Office for early settlement talks under Local Civil Rule 83.9, while pushing the defendants' deadline to formally respond out to September 14. It remains an open question whether 333 Hospitality Group will pursue a settlement during that mediation window or fight the class-action claims once its response is due. Aaron Nathaniel Solomon, Ramirez's lawyer, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The Bitter Split That Preceded Cesar
Ramirez's path to opening Cesar in 2024 followed a messy business divorce. His split with former partner Moe Issa led to Ramirez's dismissal from Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare on July 1, 2023, after the restaurant moved to Manhattan, forcing a temporary closure of the three-Michelin-starred institution, according to New York Business Divorce. Legal claims tied to that fallout have run in both directions: allegations against Issa include claims he diverted $400,000 from the restaurant's account and had Ramirez and Rodriguez falsely arrested in front of their children, while claims against Ramirez include allegations he stole more than $500,000 worth of wine and equipment. Those cases are still working their way through the courts, and on January 21 the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department issued a ruling in a related civil suit, Ramirez v. Issa, resolving several pre-trial motions.
A Restaurant Built on a Reputation for the Top of Its Craft
Whatever the outcome, Cesar has built a formidable culinary reputation since opening at 333 Hudson Street. The restaurant earned two Michelin stars less than five months after opening, and OAD named it the No. 1 restaurant in North America, ranking it ahead of Le Bernardin, Atomix and the French Laundry. The Michelin Guide has praised its world-class seafood menu and described Ramirez as one of a select few top-level chefs who can still be seen presiding over the stoves night after night. Cesar's 13-course tasting menu tops out at $368 a person, and the lawsuit puts the restaurant's annual revenue in excess of $500,000.
What's at Stake Financially
A source familiar with the case says potential damages could reach into the millions of dollars. That figure would track with other high-profile New York wage cases: Carnegie Deli agreed to a $2.65 million settlement in 2014 to resolve unpaid overtime and wage theft claims brought by 25 employees, as Hoodline has previously reported. New York's federal courts remain a hotspot for this kind of litigation — the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York consistently rank among the busiest in the country for Fair Labor Standards Act suits, with more than 600 wage-and-hour cases filed across New York state courts in 2025 alone, according to Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Cesar's case adds to a string of recent fine-dining wage disputes, including a similar suit against the French Laundry earlier this year.
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