Papa John’s Franchise Owners In Hot Water After Wage Theft Conviction and Judgments

Disturbing practices come to light after employee complaints

A recent news report detailing significant wage theft in the New York area has left many employees worried over their fair compensation.

Abdul Jamil Khokhar, owner of nine Papa John’s franchises operating under the name BMY Foods Inc., pleaded guilty to charges of failing to pay wages and falsifying documents.

According to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Khokhar bilked more than 300 employees out of thousands of dollars in wages and overtime pay. As part of the plea agreement, Khokhar admitted to using several illegal strategies to avoid paying his employees, including:

• Paying overtime in cash: In order to avoid a paper trail, Khokhar paid some employees' overtime wages in cash.

• Creating dual accounts and aliases: By creating multiple accounts for his employees, Khokhar was able to avoid paying overtime wages. When an employee worked more than 40 hours in a week, Khokhar would submit the 40 hours under one employee account and the remaining hours on another. Doing so allowed Khokhar to avoid paying overtime without having a documented record of the action.

• Requiring off-the-clock work: Khokhar trained his management team to minimize labor costs by requiring employees to perform job duties without punching in.

Dishonesty will cost him

Conditions of Khokhar’s plea agreement include a 60-day jail term and $50,000 in penalties. Khokhar must also pay $460,000 in back pay and damages to employees impacted by his actions.

Khokhar is not alone in his dishonesty

In addition to securing the conviction against Khokhar, Schneiderman has secured judgments against, or settlements with, several other Papa John’s and Domino’s Pizza franchise owners. In all, Schneiderman's office has been able to recover nearly $5 million in unpaid wages and damages for employees.

Have you experienced similar wage theft?

If you have ever been denied overtime or regular wages by your employer, you may have legal options for recovering payment. At Hepworth, Gershbaum & Roth, our New York employment law attorneys provide aggressive representation to clients who have been denied compensation for their hard work. We take a strong stance against wage theft and help you explore every available option to recover the compensation you are entitled to.

To discuss your case during a free consultation with one of our New York employment law attorneys, contact us online or call 212-545-1199 today.