There’s no such thing as a free lunch — nor breakfast it seems.
A Manhattan judge has thrown out a lawyer’s $715,000 lawsuit against a Wall Street club for discontinuing its complimentary breakfasts and ordered him to pay the club $440 in legal costs.
Richard Katz said the posh Setai Club and Spa Wall Street offered a “lovely” full breakfast when he joined in December 2009 — “omelets, pancakes, waffles, yogurts, meats, juices — whatever you want.”
He said the most important meal of the day was the most important perk of his $5,000-a-year membership, because he worked next door and having breakfast there was very convenient.
The dream became a nightmare last August, when the restaurant was renovated and reopened with a cold buffet.
Katz started complaining mightily — in one e-mail to a club exec, he wrote, “WHAT THE F–K IS GOING ON? Today there is no yogurt AND NO CEREAL!”
The club booted him for his complaints, and he answered with a lawsuit charging its “false representations” of a full breakfast were made to “in essence, steal money from the plaintiff.”
The club contended it was allowed to amend its food offerings, and in a decision this week, Justice Ellen Coin agreed.