Ex-employees of Masa Kappo filed a lawsuit against the Upper East Side omakase restaurant owned by chef Masa Takayama and Larry Gagosian this week. The class action is alleging “that the restaurant violated New York law by withholding tips that should have been paid to the waitstaff, and also that it retaliated against the named plaintiff for telling the company about the tip theft.”

The partners are among the biggest power players in their respective fields in New York and beyond: Masa Takayama owns Masa, one of the most acclaimed (and expensive) sushi restaurants in the city, located in Time Warner Center, in Columbus Circle. Larry Gagosian is one of the world’s preeminent art dealers, and the restaurant Kappo Masa is adjacent to his Madison Avenue namesake gallery, Gagosian.

“We allege that this restaurant underpaid its employees by 12%, which can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars per day over the last six years,” said Orin Kurtz of Gardy & Notis, the firm that represents the plaintiff, in a statement to Eater.

“We have just been made aware of the suit and intend to vigorously contest the allegations. We firmly believe that the restaurant has been in full compliance with all state and federal wage and hour laws. While we respect the rights of our current and former employees to raise issues of concern whether in a court of law or otherwise, these claims lack merit,” Carolyn D. Richmond, legal counsel for Kappo Masa, from the firm Fox Rothschild LLP, said in...

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