Burger King Accused of Wage Theft Totaling Seven Figures

By Michael Hein

A Burger King franchisee in San Francisco, California allegedly owes about $1.9 million in stolen wages to over 200 former employees. According to a report by The SFist, the Golden Gate Restaurant Group operated five Burger King restaurant locations in San Francisco between 2016 and 2019 before abruptly closing them all down. Now, the California Labor Commissioner's Office is holding Golden Gate owner Monu Singh accountable for missing wages.

The commissioner's office came up with the figure of $1.9 million last year, reportedly based on failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay for overtime and failure to allow for proper breaks for employees at Golden Gate's Burger King locations. This is in addition to a 2020 settlement between the city and Golden Gate for just over $800,000, which was reportedly related to healthcare payments. The former employees of these restaurants are now working with the nonprofit organizations Trabajadores Unidos Workers United and Legal Aid at Work to get the money they are allegedly entitled to.

The nonprofits and the workers say that they are redoubling their publicity efforts now because they believe Singh is trying to get out of making payments for these missed wages. In a new press release, they cited their fears since the Labor Commissioner has failed to schedule a hearing in this case so far.

"Many corporations, especially fast-food franchises, disregard labor laws and worker protections in the name of increasing profit," said Legal Aid at Work attorney Kim Ouillette. "Then, when workers are brave enough to speak up and enforce their rights, these corporations try to shift assets or even go out of business entirely to avoid liability, and then open up under a new name."

Singh has not yet responded to requests for comment from The San Francisco Chronicle, and it is not clear if Golden Gate Restaurant Group is trying to reform or open new restaurants as described above. However, the employees themselves are doing their best to keep the story in the public consciousness, including former employee Adriana Rendon.

"I worked at the Burger King on Fillmore for seven years where you couldn't take breaks and lunches, [and] you had to clock out and continue working without pay to get the job done," Rendon said in the new press release. "I worked under conditions where one could not take sick leave from work without retaliation. I knew that this was unjust and I came together with my coworkers to organize ourselves and raise our voices to demand what they owed us and to stop these abuses."

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