A restaurant in Hamden, Connecticut, was a target of protests after a lawsuit was filed that says it underpaid its hourly workers. Unidad Latina en Acción, a New Haven-based activist group, says it's a case of wage theft.
About 15 protesters chanted and held up banners outside Townhouse Family Restaurant in Hamden.
“Wage theft is a crime! Boycott Town House!” they cried.
Protestors handed out flyers to patrons in their cars as they pulled into the parking lot. The five former workers who brought the lawsuit say the restaurant paid them a fraction of minimum wage – about $3 an hour in some cases. The minimum wage in Connecticut is $10.10 an hour.
John Lugo, with Unidad Latina en Acción, said, “It’s a shame, when a business is doing so good, there is still businesses paying $4, $3 an hour, $6 hour. And that’s why we’re here, we’re here on behalf of the workers, and we’ll be having justice.”
A restaurant representative declined to comment. When the lawsuit was filed in April, a representative of the restaurant told the New Haven Register the plaintiffs had been fired multiple times.