Florida restaurant stole tips and owed U.S., international workers $184,000, feds say

A Naples restaurant that charges $129 for a three-course prix fixe menu—$149 if you order the tenderloin—lied about jobs, stole tips, improperly paid and otherwise abused workers from the U.S. and imported them via H-2B visa program, a U.S. Department of Labor said in a Miami Herald report.

Labor announced that Sails Restaurant paid $184,139 in back wages to 56 workers, $3,288.19 per employee, and a $53,536 civil money penalty for H-2B program violations.

Sails Director of Operations Corinne Ryan said in an email to the Miami Herald that Sails cooperated with the investigation, has used the H-2B program since 2019, and “60% of our H-2B participants are returning employees, a figure that supports our view of the professional opportunities and rewarding work environment we’ve created.”

This article originally appeared on The Miami Herald