One of T.I.'s many business ventures is the restaurant he opened over a year ago in his hometown of Atlanta. The restaurant is called Scales 925, and it's billed as having "Upscale Southern Cuisine in the Heart of Atlanta." Tip now finds himself as the target of a new lawsuit because of Scales 925, as 12 of the restaurant's employees are claiming that they have been unlawfully compensated. The suit was filed against T.I., his business partner Charles Hughes, and the restaurant's management group. In seeking their due back pay, the employees cite the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Atlanta's WSB-TV 2 has been able to obtain passages from the lawsuit that find the Scales 925 employees alleging that they were not paid for overtime hours due to an improper software system that only keeps track of a maximum of 40 hours per week. Furthermore, the employees in question claim that they were forced into working off the clock for three hours before they were permitted to the leave restaurant.
"Hughes has made fraudulent statements to restaurant employees concerning the hours the employees worked at SCALES 925," the suit claims. "Hughes used a time and billing software call ALOHA for keeping track of employee hours. The software would delete hours or not keep track of hours exceeding 40 hours per week. Employees complained to Hughes but were told it was nothing he could do. Hughes also implemented the time and billing software in such a way that it caused employees to claim $35 in tips when the employees did not, in fact, make $35 in tips. Employees were also coerced to work off the clock for three hours before they were allowed to go home.”
The lawsuit also alleges that some of the worker's paychecks bounced because Hughes had transferred money from an account that was reserved for payroll into his own personal account. Other accusations raised against T.I. and Hughes include forcing employees to claim tip amounts that were higher than what they actually earned and taking money from employees' paychecks with the pretense of spreading it among the busboys, only to keep the money for themselves.