Celebrity Justice
Jay-Z Rapped with Suit for Allegedly Stiffing Servers

It's a hard knock life for the folks who work at the Jiggaman's New York hotspot, if a new lawsuit is to be believed.

According to court papers obtained by TMZ, Celeste Williams, a former "server" at the swank 40/40 Club, accuses the music mogul and the company that owns the joint, Twenty Ones, Inc., of not even paying her minimum wage. She also alleges that the club held back tips from servers and that she got stiffed for overtime she worked. What's more, Williams' lawyers say in the complaint that there are "more than 100" other 40/40 employees who will join the lawsuit. Williams is seeking unspecified damages.

40/40 rep Ron Berkowitz tells TMZ that the named plaintiff -- Williams -- worked for the club for a grand total of four days, and that the club is not aware of any other of the "more than 100" workers who may have signed up for the suit. When we spoke to him, Berkowitz said the club hadn't yet been served with papers, but insisted that all employees keep 100% of their tips, and that any allegation of wait staff being unpaid is false.

A lawyer for Williams did not return calls seeking comment.



Reader Comments

(Page 3 of 4) Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

31. he always looks soooooo stupid......duh

Posted at 8:06PM on May 23rd 2007 by annab

32. #14 Good to know. I believe it.

Don't you remember both Beyonce and her mother were accused of not paying thier help on more than one occasion. They are so FAKE!

Posted at 11:16PM on May 23rd 2007 by blake\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

33. If it's true that JayZ stiffed you with a 0% tip on an $8,700.00 tab, then he may have money but he's cheap, cheap, cheap. If I were Beyonce, I'd be thinking about that and looking elsewhere. Not nice spending your life with a guy like that. It's usually just the tip of the iceberg.

Posted at 2:48AM on May 24th 2007 by JayZtightwad

34. stop hating on him- I doubt he would be soo stupid. He did not get where he is today by being stupid. The girl is trying to get some money for nothing-just like the rest of the low class sluts we keep hearing about
1. Kim K
2. Duke "Rape Victum"

Posted at 7:13AM on May 24th 2007 by victoria1

35. Beyonce must see something different when she looks at him
because he's stone fugly.

Posted at 9:12AM on May 24th 2007 by Prnzez

36. Stop picking on my man.
OK, he's ugly.
OK, he has no class.
OK, he had a baby out-of-wedlock.
OK, he's just like my dad.
But when I look at him, I see how phat his pockets are compared to mine. I'm a survivor.

Posted at 9:22AM on May 24th 2007 by be on say

37. Blacks guys are very generous especially when they hit it rich, and Beyonce would not date someone like that, because she is from Texas, kind -hearted and honest.

Jay-Z probably did not go for the advances, figure that out.

Posted at 9:43AM on May 24th 2007 by Don't believe it, don't believe a word of it

38. At least he is young, not an old foggy 83 years old with a playgirl bunny.

Posted at 9:50AM on May 24th 2007 by At least he is young, rich and smart

39. That's how the rich stay rich--they don't like to spend their money.
I'd love to see some white celeb walk out of his club without paying an $8700 bill. He'd probably beat the snot out of them.
Well, it just goes to show, you can't take a drug-selling thug and turn him into a respectable businessman.

Posted at 9:53AM on May 24th 2007 by JEWISH PRINCESS

40. JZ is one ugly dude. Yuk

Posted at 9:54AM on May 24th 2007 by Joy

41. Please stop with the personal attacks on the man's physical appearance. He is a modern day Bill Gates. And no one is judging Bill Gates by his appearance, We all know it would be ignorant to do so. As a manager of a popular and swank club and resort located in Hollywood, CA. we often hire employees that love the chance to meet and perhaps get discovered by those with fortune and fame. The wages are $3.00 per hour. Some of my employees tips are paying their college tuitions, paying their mortgages and many other things. Of course, by law, the difference is made up by management if the employee falls short of making minimum wage. However, if you can't even make the minimum wage, I don't want you as one of my employees. In this business, a waiter/waitress can make a lot of money. They just have to be willing to hustle. Jay Z hustled and made it to the top. The waitress didn't. Therefore, she stayed on the bottom. And now she's looking for someone to give her a handout. I out hustle my peers in this business all the time. My life style reflects it. If you all judged me by appearance, some of you might call me a corny looking white guy. However, my house, cars, contributions to my community and others would quickly demand your respect. My advice, get up, get off your a$$ and hu$tle. Can't knock the hu$tle!

Posted at 9:38AM on May 27th 2007 by businessfirstpersonallast

42. Just a few points to make here.

1, If you only worked at the establishment for 4 days, you are not receiving tips during training..period unless the trainer decides to give them to you.

You have to turn in tips during training so part of your performance can be calculated.

2, I doubt that you have even met 100 other employees in a 4 day period unless you were working like 16 hours per day during your training.

3, If your a waitress your pay will only be around $2-3.00 per hour.
4, If your tips do not amount to match the remaining amount to equal minimum wage rate, then the company will pay you the balance.

5, No Attorney with a brain will even take a case about a waitress claiming they didn't receive tips after only being emplyeed for 4 days....that's just a training period.
And if your waitress skills are that bad that you were only employed for 4 days and let go....think about it

DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU EARNED TIPS DURING A 4 DAY TRAINING PERIOD?

6, To all the people speaking negatively about Jay Z, you are foolish.

This is a business man, he is running the company, he is not walking the 40/40 Club floor 6 days a week inspecting tips...he's the boss

He normally would not be involved in the process of keeping track of who received tips and who didn't until the club manager brings it to the Boss's attention that so and so employee has reported not receiving tips... in which case.. this situation would not substain that claim since she only worked for 4 days.

You normally do not begin to receive tips until after training.

Furthermore if you just started working and.....you only worked for them for a total of 4 days..........that makes no sense at all that a company making that kind of money would hire someone, and within their first 4 days of employment... give them OVERTIME.

hahahaha you are not even eligible to work overtime until you complete training.

Some of the people posting comments really need to learn a little bit about business before making those comments.

As Salaamu Alaikum
(peace be upon you)

Posted at 9:35AM on May 27th 2007 by Y.F.S. Enterprises/NextDayPC's Computers2Go 1-888-615-2250

43. I wonder why there is so much hate towards certain people with money. I never see anyone hating on Bill Gates, Trump, Michael Jordan etc. I wonder what it is about this young business man that makes him so hated.

Posted at 10:59AM on May 27th 2007 by Truth

44. Having been in the serving buisness for seven years I can tell her for a fact, that you only earn $2.13 an hour the tips make up the rest of your wage. The only states that pay full wage are MN and Cali. As far as her tips being held back, it could either of been held to be put on her check, this is common for credit card tips or she was still in training, in that case her trainner is allowed to keep the tips and she would receive minum wage. If she only worked there for four days she didn't see her paycheck yet and wouldn't know what she was being paid for the time that she was there. The girl's an idiot, but Jay-Z is a sell out and I can't stand him. He hasn't had a hit in my eyes since "It's A Hard Knock Life" so I hope she gets what she is asking for.

Posted at 11:59AM on May 27th 2007 by bigmommakrista

45. WHO CARES???

Posted at 12:47PM on May 27th 2007 by Johnny Wishbone

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