The city of Albuquerque and a former restaurant employee settled a lawsuit against the Route 66 Malt Shop over the eatery’s refusal to pay a voter-mandated minimum wage increase, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The lawsuit was filed two years ago and was set to go to trial this week. Attorneys had made opening arguments and finished a day of testimony when the deal was reached late Wednesday.
The lawsuit came after complaints by Route 66 Malt Shop employee Kevin O’Leary:
O’Leary also claimed in the lawsuit that he was retaliated against by his employers because of his support for the ordinance by having his hours reduced, and that the manager showed up unannounced at his home with a bat and machete after he was featured in a TV news report.
The restaurant’s manager wound up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor for the alleged threats at the employee’s residence.
Terms of the settlement were confidential. The deal was reached after a district judge found the minimum-wage ordinance legally valid. It seems likely Route 66 Malt Shop owners and operators saw things probably weren’t going to go their and decided to strike a deal. More about the testimony may be read in this New Mexico Political Report story.
The settlement came without admission of wrongdoing by the restaurant, but it had to pay the city $2,500 and forego any appeal or future lawsuits.
The restaurant’s operator, Eric Szeman, complained two years ago it wouldn’t meet payroll with the new minimum wage and flouted the law. But the restaurant almost certainly paid far more to defend against the lawsuit. I removed Route 66 Malt Shop from this site’s Restaurants page in the wake of its bad behavior.
More trouble lies ahead for the Route 66 Malt Shop. In April, it reportedly lost its lease, and the operators hadn’t found a new place. The lease expires July 31.
(Image of the Route 66 Malt Shop by W.W. Watson via Flickr)