ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A former employee of a Chesterfield restaurant is suing the Missouri senator who owns the business, claiming he wasn't paid for overtime hours worked.
Attorney Richard Voytas Jr. of Voytas Law filed the lawsuit last week in St. Charles County court on behalf of plaintiff Willie Williams. The suit names as defendants State Sen. Benjamin Brown (R-Washington) and B&R STL LLC, which does business as Satchmo's Bar & Grill.
The suit requested a jury trial, claiming the defendants' actions were a breach of contract as well as a violation of the state's minimum wage law.
Williams worked for Satchmo's Bar & Grill between June and August of this year. According to the lawsuit, he was employed hourly at a rate of $16 per hour and $24 per hour of overtime, and received his checks bi-weekly.
Williams said he was required by the defendants to work overtime, and that he always worked around 10 hours of overtime per week and sometimes more. However, he claimed no matter how much overtime he worked, he was only paid his hourly rate for exactly 40 hours, with the exception of his second paycheck, which paid him his overtime. Williams said his bi-weekly checks were handwritten and did not come with a pay stub to track his hours.
The lawsuit claims Brown knew Williams regularly worked overtime yet still only paid him for 40 hours a week, withholding hundreds of dollars from his paychecks.
Following his termination from the restaurant, Williams sent a written request for the full amount of his final paycheck, to which the lawsuit claims the defendants never responded.
The lawsuit asks the court to award Williams his overtime wages as well as statutory penalties under the state's minimum wage law and other damages.
Brown's office did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from 5 On Your Side requesting comment.
Satchmo's Bar & Grill previously made headlines during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was one of several restaurants shut down by the St. Louis County Health Department for being in violation of the county's public health order.
Brown, who would later launch a successful campaign for a state Senate seat, joined a lawsuit with the goal of striking down local health orders imposed to curb the spread of the virus, saying the orders were an example of “tyranny.”
A circuit court judge would eventually decide in favor of the suit, ruling that local health orders violated the Missouri Constitution's separation of powers clause and should be lifted.