Union Kitchen settles with workers over wage theft claims

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, HerezAThought, at ARLnow

Morning Notes for February 5, 2025
By ARLnow.com
Published February 5, 2025 at 7:30AM

Union Kitchen Settles Suit — “The owner of Union Kitchen, a chain of locally owned grocery stores in the District and Virginia, has agreed to pay its workers more than $133,000 for illegally withholding tips paid by customers, settling a lawsuit filed nearly two years ago that alleged Union Kitchen stopped accepting tips after workers pointed out the discrepancy on their paychecks.” [Washington Post]

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HerezAThought
3 hours ago

Michael Haft is on the board of Union Kitchen. He's also the co-founder of Compass Coffee, the coffee chain that allegedly tried to stuff the org chart with new hires in order to thwart a unionization vote. He and his co-founder are also in the midst of a split over possibly misspent funds. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/01/13/compass-coffee-racketeering-covid-lawsuit/

Local Crime & Public Safety
Union Kitchen settles with workers over wage theft claims
Employees claimed owner withheld tips for years; business agrees to pay more than $133,000.

February 3, 2025 at 6:14 p.m. EST


Union Kitchen in the District's Stanton Park in 2018. (J. Lawler Duggan for The Washington Post)

By Tom Jackman

The owner of Union Kitchen, a chain of locally owned grocery stores in the District and Virginia, has agreed to pay its workers more than $133,000 for illegally withholding tips paid by customers, settling a lawsuit filed nearly two years ago that alleged Union Kitchen stopped accepting tips after workers pointed out the discrepancy on their paychecks. ... The discovery by Union Kitchen workers that they weren’t receiving their tips led employees to unionize, said Gabriel Wittes, a former employee and the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

After the unionization effort, Union Kitchen was found by the National Labor Relations Board in November 2022 to have committed 26 violations of labor law — including firings and other disciplinary measures — against workers involved in organizing the union. Union Kitchen was required to pay nearly $25,000 to five workers who were fired or disciplined.

“I and all of my co-workers were systematically stolen from over the course of years,” Wittes said. “It’s taken a long time, but I’m really excited and pleased to play a central role in justice being served.” ... Cullen Gilchrist, Union Kitchen’s owner, and lawyers representing the company declined to comment Monday.

The withholding scheme was first discovered in July 2021, according to the lawsuit filed by the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 400. Employees in one of the Union Kitchen stores in D.C. began comparing their paychecks with the itemized sales report for the store. The employees found that the store would reap more than $2,400 a week in tips, but the employees weren’t getting their fair share for the hours they worked.

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