NEW YORK (AP) – Three former waiters of Manhattan’s renowned 21 club have sued the posh eatery for more than $5.3 million, saying they were fired because of their ages and because they are French.

Rene Bordet, 68, and Jean Claude Lesbre, 63, worked at 21 as waiters and floor captains for 10 years until they were fired in 2004, and Yves Thepault, 68, was a waiter at the restaurant for 14 years until he was sacked in 2005, court papers say.

“In 2004 and 2005, defendants engaged in a concerted and egregious course of action to rid defendant 21 club Inc. of its older and long-term employees of French national origin,” the three say in papers filed Friday in Manhattan’s State Supreme Court.

Court papers say 21, which was a 1920s-era speakeasy, fired Bordet and Lesbre after “fabricated and false allegations of drinking on the job,” while Thepault was let go for “gross insubordination” after an argument with a chef over a hamburger.

Non-French employees at 21 who were younger than 60 and who committed similar, proven, inappropriate behavior were not punished, or they got less severe disciplinary responses, court papers say.

The lawsuit cites as an example a Hungarian-born floor captain who allegedly was caught drinking on the job four times and not fired, but given a one-week suspension – after the fourth offense.

The restaurant’s management “further created and fostered an environment rife with anti-French sentiment,” court papers say, with some superiors making fun of Bordet’s French accent and repeatedly referring to France in derogatory terms.

One 21 manager told Lesbre that he did not want the French employees speaking their native language, and the same manager “expressed glee over his perception that President Bush hated the French,” the papers say.

The lawsuit names the 21 club, and its owner Orient-Express Hotels Inc. of New York and Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. of Bermuda as defendants.

The restaurant’s public relations manager, Diana Biederman, denied that the club was biased. “We are an equal-opportunity employer, treat everyone fairly, and do not discriminate against our employees,” she said. She declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit.

One of the priciest restaurants in New York City, the 21 is housed in a four-story townhouse in midtown Manhattan and is a favorite of politicians, business leaders and celebrities.

The three waiters, who live in New York City, asked the court to award them wages plus interest and other benefits they would have gotten from the time they were fired until judgment is entered in this case.

Court papers say Bordet should get at least $125,000, Lesbre, $150,000, and Thepault, $100,000. The lawsuit also asks $5 million in punitive damages.