A former employee of Salt North Tap Room in Bangor filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that the restaurant failed to pay his wages on numerous occasions.
The lawsuit, filed by former head chef Johnathan Williams, alleged that the restaurant violated several state laws by failing to pay for all hours worked on the agreed-upon schedule.
Several former employees have said that restaurant owner Dane Morgan frequently shorted them on wages and delayed their paychecks for weeks on end, the Bangor Daily News reported Thursday. The allegations come less than a year after Salt North opened.
Salt North opened in June at 16 Union St., where Carolina’s Sports and Spirits used to operate, billing itself as a hip nightlife spot and Caribbean fusion eatery with live music and DJs.
Williams was paid on an irregular schedule and his paychecks were often smaller than the $1,923 weekly salary he was supposed to get, he previously told the BDN. He also didn’t receive pay stubs, so he isn’t sure if taxes were taken out of his pay.
“Salt Maine repeatedly failed to pay Williams his weekly wages,” the lawsuit states. It also alleged that “Salt Maine’s violations of Maine’s wage laws were willful and deliberate.”
Morgan addressed the allegations and the BDN’s reporting in a Facebook post Friday, writing, “I won’t be debating details publicly, but I do want to say this directly: Running a small business is hard. Owning the responsibility when things fall behind is harder — and that part is on me.”
He added that he is “actively working through every outstanding employment and vendor matter the right way and through the proper channels.”
Morgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Williams hopes “the state of Maine will step in to make sure this [does] not happen to anyone again,” he told the BDN Monday.
At least four Salt North employees have quit over late and unpaid wages, according to Williams.
Williams’ lawyer, Peter Mancuso of the Portland-based firm Borealis Law, sent a letter to Morgan on Jan. 20 demanding a copy of Williams’ employment records, including pay stubs, and pay back all unpaid wages.
Morgan acknowledged that he received the letter but had not provided a copy of the personnel file by the time the lawsuit was filed, more than two weeks after the letter was sent, according to the lawsuit.
The business is liable for Williams’ unpaid wages, interest, attorney fees and damages in the amount of double the unpaid wages, the lawsuit states.
