Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Mono Diner Closes Amid Allegations of Wage Theft

Former employees of Mono Diner on Wisconsin Avenue, which permanently closed Aug. 11, allege their employer committed up to $7,000 in wage theft. 

The employees have teamed up with D.C. Industrial Workers of the World, an international member-run workers union, in an attempt to get paid for their completed hours. After facing challenges when filing a case with D.C. law enforcement, a former employee, Chase Cabot, approached the Washington, D.C. branch of the IWW. IWW then helped Cabot by starting a GoFundMe page as well as a “March on the Boss,” in which members of the union accompanied Cabot to meet with Mono Diner owner Mohammad Esfahani, who wrote him a check for $800 July 23, according to Cabot.

MONO DINER/FACEBOOK | The diner, which just opened a few months ago, closed amid wage disputes in August.

Cabot was one of multiple former Mono Diner employees who approached the organization for a consultation on how to receive their earned wages, according to IWW Organizer Lou Castro.

“They had come to us saying they had not been paid upwards of $700 and they had moved on and still never got their last paycheck,” Castro said in an interview with The Hoya. “What we uncovered was that there were several other workers at Mono Diner who were owed upwards of $7,000.”

There are still as many as eight workers who have not been compensated, according to Castro.

Cabot had previously worked at the Esfahani brothers’ burger franchise, All About Burger.  

“Within about a week I was basically doing everything in the restaurant, I would be making fries, making milkshakes, running out orders to customers, for minimum wage,” Cabot said. “I felt pretty exploited. I felt like I was doing a lot more than I was told I would be doing for the same pay.”

Esfahani opened the restaurant March 4 to attract late-night customers and Georgetown students. Before opening the diner, Esfahani had previously been involved in past cases of property mishandling, lawsuits and corporate conflicts related to past failed restaurant ventures, according to The Washington Post. 

Many more of the diner’s workers say they lost similarly large amounts of money. The former manager of the restaurant, Charles Ordoqui, said Esfahani instructed him to withhold paychecks from employees on multiple occasions.

“The owner asked me to not hand out paychecks on payday,” Ordoqui said in an interview with The Hoya. “The first time, he asked me to wait until Monday to hand them out because then there would be money in the account.”

Ordoqui also said that the restaurant did not compensate him for extreme overtime hours he worked, leading to serious financial problems.

“I was working at least 75 hours a week. There were nights where I slept there,” Ordoqui said. “They refused to pay me more than $2,500 in overtime pay. I lost my car and residence.” 

Ordoqui said he had no choice but to continue working at the diner in order to pay bills and support his family. He claims he is still owed $5,200. 

IWW posted the former workers’ allegations to Instagram, including one post featuring former server Aliyah Washington.

Esfahani’s mismanagement of the diner had serious repercussions for the financial well-being of his employees, according to Washington.

“I am still owed over $3,000, money that was supposed to be for rent and college courses this semester,” Washington wrote in the post. “Now I had to move back home and reset my entire life’s plan.”

Esfahani’s brother and business partner Ebrahim Esfahani said he did not oversee the restaurant but defended that all employees of the diner were properly paid. 

“Mono Diner is closed. All the employees were paid. Everyone got paid,” Ebrahim Esfahani said in a phone interview with The Hoya.

Mohammad Esfahani did not respond to a request for comment.

Castro pointed out the prominence of wage theft in the United States, citing an Economic Policy Institute study that shows wage theft accounts for the vast majority of property-related crimes.

Wage theft is a crime that disproportionately affects those who are already vulnerable, Castro said.

“Right now, the majority of people getting arrested for theft are poor and working-class,” Castro said. “But the business owners, people with money and power, get away with it scot-free.”

This article was updated Sept. 6 to reflect that Castro was referring to an EPI study on wage theft.

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  • P

    Pay ThemSep 16, 2019 at 5:27 pm

    Just pay the workers, Mohammad. Stop defending yourself with aliases on a college newspaper website and pay the workers.

    Reply
  • A

    Abd al MatinSep 11, 2019 at 2:45 pm

    “I felt like I was doing a lot more than I was told I would be doing for the same pay” i’m sure 99% of most workers in all industries feel like they should be paid more for doing additional work outside their job role but if you felt overworked and underpaid, why not look for a new job.

    Also the GM, Charles Ordoqui is just as responsible for the unethical work practices. Seems like the business didn’t have the best leadership and now the workers are missing some money. The issue now is everyone will say they are owed money and most likely you will have to move on and take this as a learning experience

    Reply
    • C

      CHARLES MF ORDOQUIMay 10, 2022 at 4:44 pm

      actually, i kept meticulous payroll and submitted hours on-time and properly every week. Mr. Mohammed is just a poor manager of money, he owed our food vendors so much, they stopped delivering, this was the real reason for the shut down, and without employees, what can you do? when i took the helm, the menu was 26 pages long, 8.5×11, no layout, no pictures, just text and prices, written in bad English, unless you know me personally and worked with us during that horrific time, keep your mouth SHUT!!!!

      Reply