One of Napa Valley’s most prestigious restaurants is now facing serious accusations of mistreating its workers. A former dishwasher at the French Laundry in Yountville filed a class-action lawsuit last week alleging that the restaurant systematically violates California labor laws, and she’s not suing alone.

Elena Flores Beteta, who worked as a dishwasher at the restaurant from 2022 to 2025, is representing herself and roughly 50 other employees in the suit filed by the Glendale-based Koul Law Firm on March 19. The allegations are pretty damning: the restaurant allegedly failed to pay minimum wage and overtime, forced workers to labor off the clock, denied them legally-required meal and rest breaks, and didn’t provide adequate breakroom facilities.

According to the lawsuit, employees were required to complete tasks like mopping floors and taking out trash after clocking out for the night. Even during designated meal times, workers allegedly couldn’t actually eat because they were stuck performing mandatory duties like standing in line at the time clock. And here’s where it gets really grim: the suit claims the only bathrooms available to employees were a 10-minute walk away in a storage facility that was “consistently filthy”.

The French Laundry denied the allegations in a statement, saying the restaurant “maintains a respectful, professional, and inclusive workplace” and is “committed to complying with all applicable employment laws”. A spokesperson went even further, calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and claiming it’s the first legal action against the restaurant in 48 years regarding time and attendance issues.

But here’s the thing: this isn’t the first time Thomas Keller’s restaurant empire has faced labor controversy. Back in 2016, Keller’s New York restaurant Per Se was sued over pregnancy discrimination when an employee claimed she was denied a promised transfer after revealing her pregnancy. Though the restaurant was initially cleared of wrongdoing, the case was settled in 2019. His Las Vegas restaurant Bouchon Las Vegas also faced sexual harassment claims from managers a few years ago.

The French Laundry suit follows a pattern we’ve been seeing in the Bay Area’s restaurant industry. San Francisco’s House of Prime Rib faced similar lawsuits recently, with employees claiming they were denied breaks entirely and forced to sign waivers forgoing meal breaks. Going back further, dim sum destination Yank Sing paid out $4 million in back wages to employees for comparable violations, and Burma Superstar workers won a $1.3 million class-action settlement for similar reasons.

What’s particularly notable is the timing. Keller has been in the local spotlight recently over his involvement in debates around an affordable housing development in Yountville. He’s argued that the project doesn’t include enough family housing units for his employees, which makes these labor violation allegations feel even more relevant to ongoing conversations about worker rights in the wine country economy.