Yikes! Grand Rapids Mexican Restaurant Must Pay Workers Back Pay Of $62K

So much for celebrating national burrito day...

This well-known restaurant is taking a hit after the owner was found not paying employees adequately.

Let me explain what is going on...

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The U.S. Department of Labor has stated that a Grand Rapids restaurant has to pay 20 of their employees roughly $62,000 in back page and damages.

The exact number is $62,412.

According to the governmental department, this restaurant has been denying its workers overtime pay, which clearly violates the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The unfortunate part is it gets worse...

The department also found that the restaurant and LLC did not pay one of their servers minimum wage!

The owner is being ordered to pay the employees $31,206 just in back pay. This also includes an equivalent amount in liquidated damages to all of its current and former employees that were affected.

What is the name of this restaurant?

It is a Grand Rapids Mexican restaurant, Tacos el Cuñado Alpine, located at 2751 Alpine Ave. NW in Walker, Michigan.

Tacos el Cuñado Alpine LLC owner, Jessica Lopez, must fix this issue immediately.

The investigators checked the restaurant's pay history from August 2020 to August of last year.

The U.S. Department of Labor realized that Lopez did not keep up-to-date and accurate pay records. She also failed to pay tipped and nontipped employers for working more than 40 hours a week.

The sad thing is this is not uncommon in the restaurant industry.

The district director of the Wage and Hour division of the U.S. Department of Labor, Mary O'Rouke says,

"The failure to pay overtime wages is far too common in the restaurant industry, particularly among vulnerable employees who may not understand their rights to overtime."

How do you feel about this situation?