The Cons and cons of spazio
Establishment: Spazio
Location: Sherman Oaks
I worked at this establishment for approximately 11 months.
The problems…
1.Paychecks consistently late
2. Clock out times changed by owner
3. Banquet customers charged a 20% service fee and the owner keeps it for himself giving the service staff $10 and hour.
4. When I bartended I was responsible for all of the servers cash as well as the bars and the owner would refuse to count my cash at the end of the night because of being too busy with one of his many girlfriends.
5. I was fired on Mothers day of this year after telling the owner that I had an appointment with the Department of Fair Employment and housing. I asked for a reason and he would not respond. The GM that actually fired me had just started that day.
6. During my 11 months there the owner/Manager said to me twice "I like the way your bent over, and said once "You look sexy," and once "You should work at the Spearment Rhino," which is a strip club. I don’t know if this constitutes sexual harassment because they were only comments.
I made complaints with the Department of Labor(retaliatory firing,) the Department of Fair Employment and Housing(sexual Harassment,) and the Labor Departments wages division (to get paid for the 3 weeks he was late with my paycheck.)
I’ve had my hearing with the wages division. I LOST! The owner and his book keeeper(who he pays under the table) both lied in the hearing saying I walked in and quit on May 20, 2008. I had with me at the hearing a notarized statement from the GM who actually fired me. (The owners bookkeeper stated she didn’t have the authority to fire me.) I also had paycheck stubs showing that I was working full time at the time they said I came in and quit.
Long story short, I had to try to prove that I was fired because I did not receive my paycheck until 3 weeks after my firing and you are legally suppose to get it when you are fired.
The Hearing officer discounted all of my hard evidence and ruled in favor of the owner and his bookkeeper.
I would highly recommend getting a lawyer rather than going through Government agencies. They DO NOT protect the honest hardworking individual out there.
If anyone decides to work here I would recommend getting hard evidence of all questionable activities. I guarantee it won’t be too difficult.
that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.