ABOUT THE MONEY
T.I.’s Atlanta Restaurant Employees Are Suing Him for Unpaid Wages
Twelve disgruntled employees at the rapper’s downtown Atlanta restaurant are accusing him of ripping them off. This isn’t the first time the restaurant has met with controversy.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
Scales 925, T.I.’s shockingly mediocre Atlanta Soul Food restaurant, is getting buzz for all the wrong reasons. The rapper/gun collector/Iggy Azalea apologist has just been hit with a lawsuit by 12 disgruntled employees. The suit names Clifford Harris—the artist formerly known as T.I.—and his business partner, Charles Hughes, claiming that their two-and-a-half-star establishment is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to court documents, the Scales 925 staff have not been sufficiently paid for services rendered. The filing alleges:
“Hughes used Scales LLC to create bank accounts for payroll. However, Hughes would deposit money from SCALES 925 into his personal account causing payroll checks to bounce…Hughes has made fraudulent statements to restaurant employees concerning the hours the employees worked at SCALES 925…Employees were also coerced to work off the clock for three hours before they were allowed to go home.”
The suit goes on to claim that “during Plaintiffs’ employment with Scales, they would routinely work more than 40 hours per week. Although Plaintiffs would routinely work more than 40 hours per week, they were not paid overtime. Plaintiffs complained to Scales about not being paid overtime; however, Scales would simply ignore their complaints.”
Additionally, “Scales would also take money out of Plaintiffs’ paycheck claiming the money was used to pay the busboys. However, the busboys told Plaintiffs they didn’t receive any money in their checks from Plaintiffs’ wages…Scales would also require Plaintiffs to pay $4.00 out of their paycheck for broken glasses even if no glasses were broken.”
Since Hughes and Harris share joint authority at the restaurant—and joint culpability—both the rapper and his business partner will be on the hook for their employees’ alleged back pay.
Scales 925, which boasts eccentric dishes like meatloaf cupcakes and a “Harlem Renaissance era” aesthetic , is no stranger to controversy. Back in 2015, Former NBA player Glen Rice Jr. was shot outside of the downtown Atlanta eatery. The restaurant responded to the incident with a lengthy statement, including this retroactively sus sentiment: “The Scales 925 family condemns any act of violence and will always adhere to best practices to safeguard our patrons and staff.”