T.I. is Being Sued by His Restaurant’s Employees for Unpaid Wages

Twelve restaurant employees are suing Atlanta rapper T.I., his business partner Charles Hughes and the restaurant management group for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act at his Atlanta soul food restaurant, Scales 925.

According to WSBTV, Hughes connected the restaurant’s payroll bank account to his personal bank account, causing employees’ paychecks to bounce when cashed. The workers also allege that they were forced to “work off the clock for three hours before they were allowed to go home” and that they weren’t paid overtime.

Scales 925 used a time and billing software called ALOHA to keep track of employee hours. However, ALOHA would delete hours once an employee logged more than 40 hours in a week, the suit claims.

According to the suit, employees complained about these problems to Hughes, but their complaints were ignored. Money would also be taken out of the employees’ paychecks to pay busboys. However, the busboys claimed not to have received pay for their services.

Similarly, Scales 925 would withdraw money from paychecks to pay Georgia payroll taxes (though those taxes were also not paid). The restaurant also took money out of employee paychecks for broken glasses, even if none were broken, and Hughes forced employees to overstate their tips.

Though the restaurant is only a year old, Scales 925 made the news last October when former NBA player Glen Rice Jr. was shot in the leg outside the restaurant.

Scales 925 have not yet commented on the suit. Read the full list of complaints here.