Thompson Hotel takes control of its lobby bar from Scarpetta, allegedly fires entire wait staff

Wednesday we reported that The Counter at the Thompson Hotel has changed its name to the Thompson Diner, with no changes to the staff or atmosphere. Since then, we’ve heard reports that the Thompson Lobby Bar has actually fired its entire staff and, according to one of our commenters, embraced loud music and bright lights. One source tells us that the hotel fired all seven employees, one by one, on September 20, a week before assuming direct control of the bar (previously it was managed by Scarpetta, the celeb chef Scott Conant’s New York export). According to the source, the terminations came along with a confidentiality clause: the staff could either sign and receive two weeks’ severance, or take one week’s severance and work out the rest of the week. Their jobs were then apparently offered to employees from the Thompson Rooftop Lounge. The Thompson Hotel could not be reached for comment.