A former dishwasher at the French Laundry in Yountville has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 50 other employees alleging that the restaurant routinely violates state law around mandatory break times and resting facilities, and that it also failed to pay the minimum wage or overtime.

The lawsuit was filed last week, on March 19, by the Glendale-based Koul Law Firm, as the Press Democrat was first to report. The named plaintiff is Elena Flores Beteta, who the suit says worked as a dishwasher at the French Laundry from 2022 to 2025. The suit names the French Laundry Restaurant Corporation and Thomas Keller Restaurant Group as defendants, but Keller himself is not personally named.

Beteta alleges that that the restaurant failed to pay overtime wages that were owed to her, and she was "required to work off the clock, [and] work through meal and rest periods" without compensation. The suit also contends that the restaurant does not provide breakroom facilities as required by law, and that bathroom facilities for employees are a 10-minute walk away in a storage facility that was consistently filthy.

The Chronicle also reports on the details of the suit, which include claims that employees were required to perform tasks, such as mopping floors, after they had clocked out for the night. And it suggests that meal times were consistently abbreviated by required tasks like taking out trash, or standing in line at the time clock.

The French Laundry issued a statement saying, "We value our employees and maintain a respectful, professional, and inclusive workplace. We are committed to complying with all applicable employment laws and regulations, and we maintain policies and practices designed to promote fairness and compliance across our organization."

This is not the first time that Keller's restaurant group has been sued over alleged labor violations. In 2016, they were sued for pregnancy discrimination when an employee at Keller's New York restaurant Per Se — which serves nearly the same menu as the French Laundry — claimed she was denied a transfer to the Napa restaurant after it had initially been offered to her, after managers discovered she was pregnant. While the restaurant was cleared of wrongdoing in court, the suit was later settled in 2019, per the Chronicle.

Keller's Las Vegas restaurant Bouchon Las Vegas was also hit with a sexual harassment claim three years ago, involving managers there.

This latest class-action suit is reminiscent of two lawsuits in recent years involving alleged labor violations at San Francisco's House of Prime Rib. Those suits contended, among other things, that employees there were denied breaks of any kind, forced to perform tasks while off the clock, and forced to sign waivers forgoing meal breaks.

Over a decade ago, SF dim sum destination Yank Sing agreed to pay $4 million in back wages to employees over similar violations. In 2020, current and former employees of Burma Superstar won a $1.3 million class-action settlement, also over similar labor violations.

In recent weeks, Keller has been in local headlines over a planned affordable housing development in Yountville — with the tone of the headlines suggesting that he is among those fighting against affordable housing in the town, full stop. But Keller and others are arguing that the developer failed to do enough community outreach on the unit mix for the project, which is primarily studios and one-bedrooms — and he says his employees primarily want family housing with more bedrooms.

As of last week, per SFGate, the town of Yountville has put a pause on the development, after receiving enough signatures to put a referendum on an upcoming ballot that will put the zoning issue to voters.