Popular 14th Street DC Restaurant Settles Wage and Hour Violation Charges

A popular District of Columbia restaurant and nightclub will pay $243,350 to settle charges that it harmed employees by violating wage and hours laws.

D.C. accused the company of denying employees sick leave pay, misclassifying workers as independent contractors, and retaliating against some who raised questions about their pay and tips.

D.C Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced that Park Place Inc., which owns and operates the restaurant and nightclub The Park at 14th, will pay $127,321 to 270 workers who were denied compensation and benefits and $116,029 to the District in in civil penalties. The restaurant will also provide retroactive sick leave to current employees.

Park Place has agreed to the settlement but disputes the allegations and has not admitted any liability or law violations.

“Today, we’re putting money back in the pockets of hundreds of workers who were denied the compensation and benefits they were legally entitled to,” said Schwalb.

The attorney general said his office’s (OAG) investigation uncovered evidence that the company violated D.C.’s wage and hour laws with respect to more than 270 workers in all by:

• Denying workers paid sick leave: OAG alleges that from 2021 through 2024, The Park at 14th failed to provide more than 200 workers with any paid sick leave.
• Misclassifying employees as independent contractors: OAG alleges that from 2021 to the present, The Park at 14th illegally classified some workers thereby preventing them from receiving paid overtime wages, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.
• Retaliating against certain workers who spoke out about labor law violations: OAG says it found that The Park at 14th removed several workers from the schedule after they asked questions and lowered one worker’s hourly rate for after the employee raised concerns to management.

OAG also faulted the company for failing to provide workers with written notice of their rate of pay, tip-sharing policy, and pay dates.

In addition to paying the back compensation and civil penalty, Park Place agreed to make changes to ensure compliance with all D.C. wage and hour laws and file annual reports to OAG for three years.