oo
Then
and now
After being fined more than $200,000 for
underpaying and over-working employees at two of his Olive Vine Café restaurants, business owner Zaid Demis has closed the doors of his 316 Court Street location. Though a note in the window would suggest that the Middle Eastern eatery will re-open on February 1st, the sign has been removed from the building's façade, newspapers have been taped over the windows and workers were seen carrying construction debris out of the storefront.
It is unclear if Demis is just remodeling the space or if he is going to re-open under a new name. Perhaps he has given up the location completely. Back in November 2009, when
the Daily News reported that Demis violated the minimum wage laws by paying his cooks as little as $6 an hour, he lamented to the newspaper:
"I don't have $200,000. Where the hell am I going to get that? Now I'm probably going to have to close my doors if they really insist on me paying."
Perhaps, Mr. Demis is merely taking a break to reflect on his poor treatment of his employees.
photo credit: eatingbrooklyn on flickr
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4 comments:
I'm an avid reader of your blog because I like to know what's going on in our neighborhood so I hope you don't mind this correction to your recent posting about Olive Vine Cafe on Court St. Although it seemed as though Zaid was the sole owner of the restaurant on Court St. in fact he wasn't. My partner and I had worked for Zaid and that's why we were able to use the name. I wasn't happy about how things were going and wanted to make a change.
I've bought my partner out and now this location is going under construction and will re-open with a new name and a new outlook. I love this neighborhood and want to contribute to the community in a positive way. Hopefully the new establishment will be embraced by both former customers and new ones.
Good for you & good luck.
I hope you treat your workers more fairly than your old managing partner (Zaid) did in the past.
[LOL - more importantly, I hope you keep a clean kitchen]
I look forward to trying your new menu.
Thanks. I will make sure to treat everyone fairly. Looking forward to having you as a customer.
The owner of Palmyra's labor policies are illegal. All of those who worked in the kitchen from the days of the Olive Vine till now are illegal immigrants with no rights. The owner barely pays anything for their Social Security, and he also worked them without insurance for a long period of time. The owner ridiculed the need for a First Aid kit on many occasions and displayed few band aids as an evidence to having one. The owner refuses to register all of his workers with the labor department and they all work more hours from what he claims. Also, the owner had lied to the labor department regarding the number of hours and wages his workers make. He had also intimidated and threatened a female worker and her story with the owner itself makes you live a Charles Dickens story right there in Brooklyn.
The owner refused the advice on how to fix the worker's situation and always said that he would not make any money if he did that.
All of this, and i did not start with talking about how clean Palmyra i, because for that alone i could write a BOOK.
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