Ruggles houston walkout

Houston's independent source of local news and culture. Restaurant News. Katharine Shilcutt December 5, PM. Update : Bruce Molzan says that he has "three auditors" and a new manager going through files and payroll records as of today, admitting that Ruggles does owe the waitstaff back wages. I understand everyone being upset and wanting to get paid.

It just happens, I guess. This past Saturday night at Ruggles was a busy one. There were nearly customers packing the restaurant at Westheimer and Montrose, with a skeleton crew of only five waiters out of a normal man crew.

And at 7 p. Villarreal, his GM and his co-workers called the customers who had reservations for the evening to inform them that the restaurant would be closed unexpectedly, hung a sign on the door and left chef and owner Bruce Molzan with an empty restaurant and only four employees. All five waiters and the general manager submitted their resignations that night as well. Villarreal and his fellow waitstaff allege that Molzan hasn't paid them their tips in nearly a year.

Prior to the walk-out, Villarreal and his co-workers filed a claim with the Texas Workforce Commission, claiming that they're owed thousands of dollars in back wages. In a statement to the Chronicle today , Molzan claimed that "he was not in charge of the tip payments, but is working to get checks out as soon as possible. However, this differs from the statement Molzan made to the Houston Press just last week, when contacted about Villarreal's claims of non-payment.

We are keeping up with stuff. This is untrue, says Villarreal: "I have maxed out my credit cards and have used up my entire savings to pay my bills in the meantime. I'm worried my utilities will be cut off soon.

I'm not the only person in this situation, I'm actually the one on staff who might be suffering the least. Villarreal says that in the six months he worked for Ruggles, he never once received a standard payroll check. Holiday Private Parties Host your party with us!

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