Two Florida wings restaurants didn’t pay workers $115,000 after closing for COVID-19
A West Palm Beach-based wings chain paid $115,966 in back pay to employees it originally stiffed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Tuesday.
The agency said two restaurants owned by Hurricane Wings Management paid the money to 160 employees, an average of $724.79 per employee.
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation records say Hurricane Wings Management, managed by John Metz, runs Boynton Beach’s Hurricane Dockside Grille and Hurricane Grill & Wings Winter Haven. Labor said Wage and Hour investigators found the restaurants failed to “pay employees any wages after temporarily closing the locations due to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Even if closed by state decree, businesses better have their workers’ money, said Miami Wage and Hour Division Director Tony Pham.
“Employers must pay their employees all of the wages they have earned for all of the hours they have worked, no later than their regularly scheduled payday,” Pham said in a statement.
To contact Labor’s Wage and Hour Division Miami office, call (305) 598-66071-866-4-USWAGE(866-487-9243). For online information on how to file a complaint, go to the Wage and Hour complaint section of the Department of Labor website.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Two Florida wings restaurants didn’t pay workers $115,000 after closing for COVID-19."
