AG Schwalb announced a lawsuit against Talea Ristorante and its owner, Hamza Hadani, for systematically stealing employees’ wages and violating other laws that protect District workers. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Talea and Hadani pay their employees less than half of the tipped minimum wage, fail to ensure tipped workers’ take-home pay meets the regular minimum wage, and deny workers paid sick leave and overtime pay, even as some of them work 70-hour weeks. The investigation also found that Hadani prohibits workers from discussing their pay with one another and then retaliates against those who protest their mistreatment by threatening and firing them.

“Hamza Hadani exploits his employees while basking in the attention he receives as a well-known restauranteur. 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.”- AG Schwalb