Workers at the now-closed Otium in Los Angeles say they haven’t received their final paychecks after the restaurant closed permanently on Sunday, September 8. Around noon on Wednesday, September 25, about 15 former workers gathered outside the restaurant carrying signs that read “owe-tium” and discussing the missing final paychecks. Around 1:50 p.m., workers headed to Grand Avenue in downtown LA, hoisting signs in the air and chanting “Quiero mi dinero” (“I want my money” in Spanish) and “Wage theft is a crime, people have to pay for it.” . “their time.”

On August 8, Otium announced on Instagram that the company would be closing in early September after nine years, attributing the closure to “unprecedented challenges that are making it increasingly difficult to sustain our operations.” The post suggested Otium could reopen elsewhere.

Otium, an architectural and culinary destination, opened in 2015 under the leadership of former French Laundry chef Timothy Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth operated the restaurant with former Wolfgang Puck catering CEO Carl Schuster; It opened with an investment from Broad, the landmark art museum owned by billionaire Eli Broad next door. The Sept. 25 protest comes two weeks after workers were reportedly promised their final paychecks from Otium. Both Hollingsworth and Schuster confirmed in statements to Eater that they were aware of the late paychecks.

In a text to Eater LA on Wednesday, Hollingsworth referred to his business partner Carl Schuster and wrote: “I’d like to call you and give you something, but I’ll wait here and expect a call from Carl Schuster in the next hour.” So with one Bit of clarity and information. I pray to God to give me and the team a date as to when they should expect payment.”

Schuster told Eater over the phone that he plans to give employees an update on the status of paychecks on Friday, September 27, and that the restaurant fully intends to pay the former employees their full wages and any associated penalties. “I’ve been doing this my whole life and have never been in this situation,” says Schuster. “I can’t imagine the stress, not knowing and waiting.” He says the restaurant tried to sell some of its inventory and equipment to cover wages, but those plans fell through. “I take personal responsibility for ensuring employees are paid as quickly as possible,” he added.

However, employees are concerned about another deadline – one with no guarantee of payment – so close to the end of the month, when many are counting on their checks to pay rent.

Rylee Ratcliff, a former barista at Otium, says the restaurant was very busy after it announced its impending closure on August 8; In the previous months there had been difficulty filling all the seats. As soon as the deadline was announced, workers were tasked with processing the overwhelming number of reservations. “Many people worked more than 12 hours a day, five to six days a week,” she says. “I worked 60 hours last week.” She estimates the restaurant owes her about $3,000 to $3,500, made up of regular wages, tips, overtime and remaining vacation pay.

Rebecca Roland

On Monday, September 23, Melissa Mendoza, a waitress at Otium for eight years, posted a graphic on Instagram detailing the restaurant’s alleged non-payment of wages. The post said employees were promised their final paycheck on September 11th, but “attempts to contact owners and management have been met with lack of responsiveness and indecision.” Since September 15th Otium’s Instagram account private. Hollingsworth also deleted his Instagram account, which had tens of thousands of followers. Hollingsworth is known for winning Netflix’s global cooking competition The final table in 2019 as well as the creation of the viral pop-up Chain The office Actor BJ Novak. The pop-up will host Chainfest on Saturday, October 5th.

According to Ratcliff, the only communication most employees received about their pay came from an outside human resources department, KitchenSync HR; She estimates they received a total of four emails saying an update was “coming soon.” Ratcliff also claims that temporary workers hired by a third-party agency to work at Otium have already received their paychecks. Schuster says the restaurant would use temporary workers for large parties, but could not confirm whether those workers were paid – although he assumes they were. He adds that the restaurant pays the agency, which in turn pays those workers, and that the restaurant currently owes the agency money for the last 30 days of operation. Schuster says that after paying Otium’s employees, the restaurant will also make payments to the agency.

Yosselin Cortes, a former Otium manager who has worked at the restaurant since 2015, claims that some of the employees continued working days after the closure to help clean up the restaurant; She claims they were promised their final paychecks on September 11th. “It came to this day and no one got paid,” Cortes says. “The 12th goal and then (former employees) contacted me because I’m one of the managers and I tried to contact the GM, Antoine Ceyrat, and he was like, ‘You know what? I didn’t get paid either.'” Cortes hasn’t heard from Hollingsworth or Schuster, but says some of her colleagues received a “copy-and-paste message” in response to their inquiries. Multiple employees who spoke to Eater claim this isn’t the first case of paycheck issues at Otium. Cortes claims that employees have received physical checks in the past that were bounced.

Eater reached out to Schuster about the allegations about previously received checks.

After the shutdown, workers started a group chat to discuss the missing paychecks. About ten days after the actual payout date, a group of about ten former employees gathered to discuss next steps and seek legal representation. “That’s where we decided to post everywhere, tag them everywhere and meet here and protest,” Ratcliff said. “Because we knew that the Broad owned the building and they were partly to blame for this too.”

When considering what measures to take, Cortes thought about workers like porters and dishwashers who are most at risk. “Everyone said they were obviously afraid to speak out, so we have to speak up for them,” she says. “They have bills to pay, they have rent to pay, and it’s sad because we’re trying to help each other, but at the end of the day the question is: Who’s helping everyone else?”

Ratcliff said employees were last told by human resources that they would receive more information on Sept. 27. “It didn’t even say, ‘Oh, you all get paid on the 27th,'” she says. “It just said, ‘We’ll have another update on the 27th,’ and that’s four days before the rent is due. And a lot of those people were counting on that last check.”

In a written statement to Eater on Wednesday, Otium employees addressed the nonpayment of wages.

“Despite our dedication and hard work, we have not received our last two paychecks, which has caused financial hardship for many of us. We want to express our solidarity as a team and emphasize the importance of fair treatment in the workplace. We have made several attempts to communicate with management regarding this issue but have not yet received a satisfactory resolution. Our goal is to resolve this matter amicably and ensure that all employees receive their due wages in a timely manner.”

Mendoza, who helped organize the demonstration and attended with her daughter, questions why they even have to protest to get paid by the restaurant. “Why do we have to protest to get our last paycheck?” she says. “This is very unprofessional. I don’t think we should do that. And I hope we don’t become a target for that.”

“It’s really heartbreaking because they always said to us, ‘We are a family, we are a team, a dream,'” Cortes says.

On Sept. 27, Hope Street Restaurants, the group behind Otium, sent an email to employees saying their checks would be available for pickup that day and the following day. At this time, the checks did not contain any waiting money, but the group acknowledged that the additional amount was still owed and would follow up when it became available. Hollingworth also sent a statement to employees, writing that the nonpayment of wages “should not have happened in the first place” and that he would not rest until all employees received their paychecks.

Update: September 30, 2024, 12:45 p.m.: An update on wage payments has been added to this story.