Former Otium Workers Still Haven’t Gotten Their Final Paychecks

Workers at Los Angeles’s now-closed Otium say they have not received their final paychecks after the restaurant closed permanently on Sunday, September 8. At around noon on Wednesday, September 25, about 15 former workers gathered in front of the restaurant wearing tags that read “owe-tium,” and discussing the missing final paychecks. At around 1:50 p.m., the workers took to Grand Avenue in Downtown LA, hoisting signs in the air and chanting “Quiero mi dinero” (“I want my money” in Spanish) and “Wage theft is a crime, pay people for their time.”

On August 8, Otium announced on Instagram that it would be closing in early September after nine years, attributing the closure to “unprecedented challenges, making it increasingly difficult to sustain our operations.” The post suggested that Otium could reopen elsewhere.

An architectural and culinary destination, Otium, helmed by former French Laundry chef de cuisine Timothy Hollingsworth, opened in 2015. Hollingsworth operated the restaurant alongside former Wolfgang Puck catering CEO Carl Schuster; it opened with investment from the Broad, billionaire Eli Broad’s landmark art museum located next door. The September 25 protest comes two weeks after workers were allegedly promised their final paychecks from Otium. Both Hollingsworth and Schuster confirmed their awareness of the delayed paychecks in statements to Eater.

In a text to Eater LA on Wednesday, Hollingsworth pointed to business partner Carl Schuster, writing: “I would love nothing more than to call you and give you something, but I am waiting here expecting a call from Carl Schuster in the next hour or so with any ounce of clarity and information. Praying to God, that he can provide me and the team a date on when they should be expecting payment.”

Schuster told Eater over the phone that he plans to share an update with the employees on Friday, September 27, regarding the status of paychecks, and that the restaurant fully intends to pay the former employees their full wages and any penalties associated. “I’ve been doing this for my whole life, and never been in this situation,” says Schuster. “I can’t imagine the stress, the not knowing, and the waiting.” He says the restaurant tried to sell off some of its inventory and equipment to cover wages, but that those plans fell through. “I’m taking personal responsibility to make sure the employees get paid as fast as I can,” he adds.

However, employees are wary of yet another deadline — one without the guarantee of a payment — so close to the end of the month, when many are counting on their checks to make rent.

Rylee Ratcliff, a former barista at Otium, says that the restaurant became very busy after it announced its pending closure on August 8; in the months prior, it had struggled to fill all of its seats. Once the closing date was announced, workers were tasked with handling the overwhelming number of reservations. “A lot of people were working 12-plus hour days, five to six days of the week,” she says. “I did 60 hours the last week.” She estimates the restaurant owes her around $3,000 to $3,500 between regular wages, tips, overtime, and remaining vacation pay.

Rebecca Roland

On Monday, September 23, Melissa Mendoza, a server at Otium for eight years, posted a graphic on Instagram detailing the restaurant’s alleged nonpayment of wages. The post claimed that staff was promised their final paycheck on September 11, but that “efforts to contact ownership and management have been met with unresponsiveness and inconclusivity.” As of September 15, the Otium Instagram account was private. Hollingsworth, likewise, deleted his Instagram account, which had tens of thousands of followers. Hollingsworth is known for winning Netflix’s global cooking competition The Final Table in 2019, as well as creating the viral pop-up Chain with The Office actor B.J. Novak. The pop-up will host Chainfest on Saturday, October 5.

According to Ratcliff, the only communication that most employees have received about their pay came from a third-party human resources group, KitchenSync HR; she estimates that they have received four emails in total saying that an update was “coming soon.” Ratcliff also alleges that temporary workers who were hired to work at Otium by a third-party agency had already received their paychecks. Schuster says that the restaurant would use temporary employees for large parties, but could not confirm if those workers have been paid — though he says he assumes that they have. He adds that the restaurant pays the agency, which in turn pays those workers, and that the restaurant currently owes the agency money for the last 30 days of operation. Schuster says that after Otium’s workers are paid, the restaurant will also provide payment to the agency.

Yosselin Cortes, a former manager at Otium who has worked at the restaurant since 2015, claims that some of the staff worked days after the closure to help clean up the restaurant; she alleges that they were promised their final paychecks on September 11. “It came to that day, and nobody got paid,” Cortes says. “The 12th hit and then [former workers] were contacting me, because I’m one of the managers, and I was trying to contact the GM, Antoine Ceyrat, and he was like, ‘You know what? I haven’t gotten paid either.’” Cortes hasn’t heard from Hollingsworth or Schuster, but says that some of her coworkers have received a “copy and paste message” in response to their inquiries. Several employees who spoke with Eater allege that this isn’t the first instance of issues with paychecks at Otium. Cortes claims that in the past, employees received physical checks that bounced.

Eater has reached out to Schuster regarding allegations of previously bounced checks.

After the closure, workers started a group chat to discuss the missing paychecks. Around 10 days after the date they were supposed to be paid, a group of about 10 former employees gathered to discuss the next steps and pursue legal representation. “It was there that we decided to post everywhere, tag them in everything, and come and meet and protest over here,” Ratcliff says. “Because we knew that the Broad owns the building, and they do have [complicity] in this as well.”

When considering how to take action, Cortes thought about workers like the porters and dishwashers who are the most vulnerable employees. “Everyone was saying they’re obviously scared to speak up, so we need to speak up for them,” she says. “They have bills to pay, they have rent to pay, and it’s sad because we’re trying to help each other out, but at the end of the day, it’s like, who’s helping everyone else out?”

According to Ratcliff, employees were last told by HR that they would get more information on September 27. “It wasn’t even, ‘Oh, y’all will get paid on the 27th,’” she says. “It was just, ‘We’ll have another update on the 27th,’ and that is four days before rent is due. And a lot of these people were counting on that last check.”

In a written statement to Eater on Wednesday, Otium employees addressed the nonpayment of wages.

“Despite our commitment and hard work, we have not received our last two paychecks, which has created financial hardships for many of us. We want to express our solidarity as a team and emphasize the importance of fair treatment in the workplace. We have made multiple attempts to communicate with management regarding this issue but have yet to receive a satisfactory resolution. Our goal is to resolve this matter amicably and ensure that all employees receive their due wages promptly.”

Mendoza, who helped organize the demonstration and attended with her daughter, wonders why they have to protest at all to get paid by the restaurant. “Why do we have to protest to get our last paycheck?” she says. “That’s very unprofessional. I don’t think that we should have to do this. And I hope we’re not targeted for this.”

“It’s really heartbreaking, because they would always say to us, ‘We’re family, we’re one team, one dream,’” says Cortes.

On September 27, Hope Street Restaurants, the group behind Otium, sent an email to staff saying their checks would be available to pick up that day, and the following day. At the time, the checks did not include waiting pay, but the group acknowledged the additional amount was still owed and would follow up when it became available. Hollingworth also sent out a statement to employees, writing that nonpayment of wages “should have not happened in the first place” and that he will not rest until all employees get their paychecks.

Update: September 30, 2024, 12:45 p.m.: This story has been updated to include an update on the payment of wages.