Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole took to Instagram Wednesday night to clear the air after the Today show cancelled her scheduled appearance. The reason for the sudden decision is due to a lawsuit in which plantiff Morgan Georgia claims that Bar Vegan (one of Cole’s Atlanta restaurants) paid employees $2.13 an hour while forcing them to give up 25% of their tips.
Travis Foust, the lawyer representing Georgia and other former workers, said: “The allegations are and what our clients say is that Bar Vegan was keeping a large percentage of tips to cover operational costs in the restaurants.”
In a court document, the legal team for Bar Vegan claimed that Georgia and other employees “were paid compensation beyond that to which they were entitled while employed by Bar Vegan, such additional compensation would satisfy, in whole or in part, any alleged claim for unpaid minimum wages and/or overtime or other monetary relief.”
The former Bar Vegan employees are seeking damages for the money they accumulated for hours worked and attorneys’ fees. Cole went on Instagram to comment on the allegations. She stated:
“This week, I was named in a lawsuit for one of my companies, Bar Vegan, alongside my partners, over alleged unpaid wages from one employee. Again, ALLEGED. Up until this point, I was not familiar with this ordeal or the employee, because I don’t run day to day operations at Bar Vegan. But because it’s a SEXY STORY to make a community leader look like a bad guy, this has become headline news. What do I gain withholding someone’s hard earned money when my blessings overflow EVERYDAY? When I’m helping people EVERYDAY! When I’m using my resources to put people on EVERYDAY.. employees included! My life’s work is in service, and this negativity don’t match my name.”
We just hope this matter gets resolved soon.