BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A $1.7-million-dollar settlement has been reached addressing a wage theft scheme involving the owner of five Wingstop locations in Bakersfield.
17 News headed to the locations involved and it was a normal day of work for Wingstop employees, however, it is not all chicken and fries around the restaurant.
Around 550 employees who worked from June 2019 and April 2022 at the five locations owned by Clinton Lewis, are all now entitled to wages the state says they are owed. After an investigation in 2020, the state cited Lewis in 2023 for more than $3 million in wage theft violations, saying Lewis deprived employees of the proper minimum wage, overtime pay, and meal breaks.
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17 News reached out to Lewis for an interview, his wife and business partner declined, but did say they are “not happy with this” and “this is a win for the state not the employees” and that their “employees are happy.”