PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Employees at Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt shops in Oregon and Washington received overdue payments after a federal investigation revealed store managers took a portion of workers’ tips illegally and did not pay some employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a week.
Investigators recovered $96,973 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owners of 11 frozen yogurt shops in Washington and Oregon, the U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday.
In addition to taking tips and not paying overtime, the owners also did not keep an accurate record of hours worked and violated child labor regulations by allowing minors under the age of 18 to operate trash compactors at four Washington locations, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found.
Investigators say BroYo LLC, which operates nine Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt franchises in Washington and two in Oregon, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act several times. Investigators recovered back wages and damages for 330 workers.
Mark Sandwith is a co-owner of the shops involved in the investigation. He told KOIN 6 News that the stores were allowing store leaders a share of the tips because there are only eight employees at each store and the owners wanted managers to receive a share of the tips.
He said their mentality was that since the store leaders engage with guests like any other employee, they should be tipped.
Sandwith said he was told the Department of Labor was doing random checks...
FERNDALE, Wash. — On March 30, 2026, Merissa G. Saenz, 27, was sentenced in Whatcom County Superior Court after pleading guilty to malicious prosecution and entering an Alford plea to making a fal...