IthacaJournal: Former Collegetown cafe owner fined

The owner of the short-lived Green Cafe in Collegetown has been fined almost $1 million by the New York State Department of Labor for unpaid back wages at the Ithaca location and at a still-open deli in New York City.

The state DOL began investigating restaurant owner Charles B. Park last fall after the Tompkins County Workers' Center filed a complaint on behalf of workers.

Anna Ottoson worked as a cashier at the Green Cafe at 330 College Ave. where she became friends with some of the Latino back-of-the-house workers. Though Ottoson and other front-of-the-house workers were always paid on time and in full and received normal time off, she soon learned that the Latino workers were not being paid in full and never given a day of rest, she said.

Ottoson said she encouraged the Latino workers to talk to Park and insist on having at least one day of rest per week. Park repeatedly told the workers he'd let…

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20100903/NEWS01/9030379/Former-Collegetown-cafe-owner-fined-1-million-for-unpaid-wages