Fired Ellen's Stardust Diner Servers Will Return To Spotlight

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — More than a dozen singing servers at Ellen's Stardust Diner will return to the greasy-spoon spotlight after mass firings at the landmark Midtown restaurant. The diner has reached a settlement with a group of 31 fired workers in a federal labor case the servers filed with the National Labor Relations Board last year, a union for the servers said Wednesday.

Thirteen singing servers will immediately return to work, with all 31 eligible to receive back pay, according to the union, Stardust Family United, and a lawyer for the diner. The diner also has to mail employees a letter pledging not to violate labor rules by threatening workers, punishing them for trying to improve conditions or by interfering with their social media posts, the union said.

The settlement ends a 13-month dispute between the Theater District diner and the singing servers, who perform musical numbers while slinging burgers and fries. Some 16 workers were fired in the fall of 2016, weeks after unionizing, and another 15 were fired in January, the union said.

"I’m thrilled and proud to know our struggle and vigilance over the last year has paid off," Matthew Patterson, one of the returning servers, said in a statement. "I’m looking forward to returning and making a positive impact inside the diner."

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All 31 fired servers were offered their jobs back, but only 13 accepted, according to the settlement. All 31 could receive back pay for the time since they were fired, but hearings to determine how much they get won't start until Nov. 6, the diner's lawyer, Patrick McCarthy said.

The diner will also expunge the workers' personnel records of their firings and pledged not to use the firings against them "in any way," the settlement says.

"There was no admission by the employer of any wrongdoing," McCarthy told Patch.

The lawsuit was filed following a change in management that resulted in firings of longtime workers, leading employees to unionize last year, The New York Times reported last year. The 31 firings over the past year followed the unionization effort and protests by employees, the union said.

The union said the settlement meant the diner would "narrowly avoid" a trial on 19 violations of federal labor law. While a trial had been scheduled, McCarthy said the diner didn't want to spend any more money on the dispute.

"It’s not trying to avoid trial," McCarthy said. "It’s simply the ongoing process could go on for a year or more and I think it’s fair to say it’s in the interest of all parties to kind of get this behind them and try to move on."

The dispute brought some bitterness to the usually rosy tourist destination at the corner of 51st Street and Broadway. Servers staged a silent protest on the floor last September, Playbill.com reported. A rally outside the restaurant followed in December as customers lined up to get inside, according to CBS New York.

"The right of workers to organize is precious and these inspiring servers fought hard to defend it," the union's lawyer, Benjamin Dictor, told Patch in an email.

The diner's owners in July accused servers of stealing more than $400,000 through a scheme involving table tickets, according to the New York Post. The settlement says that those allegations won't play a role in determining back pay.

The Manhattan district attorney's office, to which the diner reportedly complained, declined to comment.

(This story has been updated. Lead image by Theo Wargo/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)