The city of Oakland claims the owner of a wildly popular but scandal-ridden restaurant that closed in May violated a local minimum wage law and owes its former employees money.
Oakland’s Department of Workplace and Employment Standards alleges that Hi Felicia owes some of its former employees $105,555 in service charges that were meant to be kept by specific workers but were instead shared among the restaurant’s entire staff. The service charges were charged to customers between April 2022 and May 2023, according to a letter Oakland sent to the owner, Imana Ewart, who goes by her first name. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported this story.
Oakland reviewed the restaurant’s service charge policy, employee and employer testimony, and other records for its investigation. The city determined that Hi Felicia used half of the service charges to supplement higher hourly wages for all employees. Under Oakland’s Minimum Wage and Sick Leave Ordinance, all service charges must be turned over to the workers serving customers. None of these kinds of charges are allowed to be paid to supervisors unless they’re also doing service work.
The Workplace and Employment Standards Department has ordered Hi Felicia to pay the remaining half of the service charges to its former employees.
Imana told The Oaklandside on Wednesday that she had not been aware of this requirement under Oakland’s law. She said she split the service charge to increase the pay for other workers in the restaurant...
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