Latest news with #MinimumWageRevisionAct
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
DC strip club sued for ‘routine' sexual harassment, wage theft, OAG says
WASHINGTON () — The owners of Cloakroom, a strip club in downtown D.C., are in hot water after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced a lawsuit against them Tuesday, alleging they have created a hostile and exploitative work environment for female employees. Cloakroom, located in the heart of Mount Vernon Triangle in Northwest, is owned by Antonios Cavasilios and Carlos Horcasitas and employs dozens of people – most of whom are women. In Tuesday's announcement, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said that for years, Cavasilios and Horcasitas have maintained a workplace where female employees are 'routinely' subjected to sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, insults and physical assault. Elderly woman conned out of over $130,000, Prince William County police say The OAG says that Cloakroom managers and employees, including Cavasilios, regularly sexually harass female employees by calling them demeaning, sexist names and touching them inappropriately. 'Owners and managers wield their hiring, firing, and scheduling power to maintain a coercive, exploitative workplace, preying on younger and less experienced workers in particular,' said the OAG, in part. 'On at least one occasion, Cavasilios himself sexually assaulted a club employee. None of the club's male employees experience this type of mistreatment and abuse.' In addition, the complaint alleges that club management has stolen 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' in tips and wages from employees, failed to pay for overtime and all hours worked, failed to provide paid sick leave and retaliated against workers who spoke out. In total, the OAG says the Cloakroom violated several D.C. laws, including the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, Minimum Wage Revision Act, Wage Payment and Collection Law, Consumer Protection Procedures Act, Sick and Safe Leave Act and Wage Transparency Act. 2025.03.11 DC v Cloakroom Complaint – FINALDownload Schwalb said one way the club's owners have stolen wages is through 'Cloakbucks,' a Cloakroom-branded fake currency that management encouraged customers to use to tip. When the bucks were converted to real cash, the owners allegedly pocketed 10% of the earnings. When the OAG began investigating the club, the bucks were discontinued. Cherry blossom bloom watch: Cherry trees along Tidal Basin reach stage one of six The document also alleges that Cloakroom and its owners steal wages by forcing entertainers to pay club managers 10-20% of their earned commission when they perform in private rooms, even though they are promised a fixed percentage commission, typically 40% of the amount charged to the customer. In a statement sent to DC News Now, a Cloakroom representative said, 'We are reviewing the allegations of the District's lawsuit. We look forward to proving in court that we run an upstanding District business providing top-notch service to our customers and treat our employees with professionalism and dignity.' Schwalb added that the lawsuit aims to bring the business into compliance with the District's civil rights, employment and consumer protection laws and seek damages for employees who were abused and denied tips, wages and paid sick leave. 'Cloakroom and its owners flagrantly disregard the most basic workplace protections and decencies, routinely subjecting female employees to degradation and abuse while deploying a variety of schemes to steal their pay. As the District's independent Attorney General, we will put an end to this type of exploitative combination of sexual harassment and wage theft,' said Schwalb. 'My office will always fight for the dignity, safety, and livelihood of District workers.' The OAG asks former or current Cloakroom employees who have experienced or witnessed illegal conduct to call (202) 724-7730 or email workers@ or . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AG Schwalb suing DC restaurant for allegedly underpaying employees, denying overtime, sick leave
WASHINGTON () — D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced that he is suing a D.C. restaurant for allegedly underpaying employees and denying overtime and sick leave. Talea is an Italian restaurant that opened its doors in 2024 in the D.C. neighborhood of Cathedral Heights. Talea's owner and managing partner, Hamza Hadani, is a business owner with several restaurants in D.C. 'It's frustrating and we think it's also wrong': DC Mayor, leaders defend self-governance as Trump pushes for federal control According to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), some of the laws that Talea and Hadani violated include: The Minimum Wage Revision Act (MWRA), Sick and Safe Leave Act (SSLA), Wage Transparency Act (WTA), and the Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) 'Hamza Hadani exploits his employees while basking in the attention he receives as a well-known restauranteur,' said Attorney General Schwalb. The OAG said the unfair labor practice started even before the restaurant opened, when Hadani had an alleged 'training' period in which some employees worked up to 70 hours per week while getting paid lower than the federal minimum wage. When the restaurant opened its doors in June 2024, the tipped minimum wage was $8 per hour and soon went up to $10 per hour in July 2024. However, many of the tipped workers get paid less than half of what they're supposed to, some even getting paid as low as $3.99 per hour. They also did not make sure that the wage for tipped workers' hourly pay met the regular minimum wage, which is $17.50 as of July 1, 2024. Trump appoints Maryland, Virginia governors to Council of Governors The OAG said that Hadani and Talea did not pay its employees one and a half times their regular rate when they worked overtime (More than 40 hours a week). It also found that Hadani told employees to not clock in for their shift until they started doing table service instead of when they got to work, which resulted in employees losing about two hours worth of pay. When employees get sick, they have to go unpaid and find another coworker to cover their shift. Hadani and Talea also do not track absences or leave that employees should generally be eligible for. Hadani also forced employees to get a doctor's note if they were going on sick leave and would fire employees who were not able to give him a note. One employee was allegedly fired after not providing a note because they couldn't afford to go to a doctor due to being underpaid. Hadani and Talea also did not maintain proper payroll records as required by D.C. law. There were time were employees were paid with handwritten checks that did not include itemized statements that showed wages and tips, what was deducted or added as well as the amount the were earning per hour for during the pay period. Mitch McConnell: About the U.S. senator from Kentucky Because of this, employees did not know the amount of hours they were being paid for, the hourly rate, how much was deducted from their check or how much they were expecting to take home. This made it easier for Hadani and Talea to continue its unfair labor practice since it was easier to keep employees underpaid. The investigation also revealed that Hadani would verbally attack employees with profanities when they asked questions about their pay. He also told employees to not talk to each other about pay and threatened with baseless defamations suits for telling former coworkers about wage and hour violations. Hadani also fired employees who he suspected were cooperating with OAG's investigation. He also used his connection with people in the restaurant industry to contact the workplace of former employees in efforts to get them fired again. 'Servers, hosts, food runners, bussers, and bartenders are underpaid, lied to, denied sick leave, refused overtime—and then, if they speak out about such illegal conduct, are intimidated, harassed and fired. As the District's independent Attorney General, I will continue to fight to protect the workers who are the lifeblood of our city's vibrant restaurant culture and work tirelessly to ensure a level playing field for restaurants that play by the rules,' said Schwalb. Officials investigating bomb threat at Kennedy Center, police say The OAG wants Talea and Hadani to comply with D.C.'s employment laws and stop its illegal conduct. It also wants employees who were not allowed minimum wage, overtime, and paid sick leave to recover unpaid wages and paid sick leave as well as civil penalties. Hamza Hadani, the Managing Partner at Talea Ristorante, provided a statement to DC News Now saying: We take issue and have denied and continue to deny the Government's allegations as this matter has been at issue for almost one year.. The only resolution is for the parties to utilize the resources of the Court for the District of Columbia.' Hamza HadaniManaging Partner Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
