Former bartenders and servers of a South Loop restaurant said they’re owed thousands in unpaid wages, after the business was served an eviction notice last month.
The eatery Reserv owes an estimated total of $45,800 for unpaid rent since March, court records show. The 9,454-square-foot restaurant at 744 S. Dearborn St. opened in December and replaced Roots Handmade Pizza in Printer’s Row.
Reserv owner Gerald Joseph said he’s contesting the eviction filing and dealing with a dispute involving a business partner.
But the financial fallout has been immediate for many of Reserv’s former employees, with some recently filing complaints with city and state regulators against the business.
South Loop resident Kalyn Victor was hired when the restaurant opened. She soon became concerned when her first paychecks arrived without a pay stub or additional information, such as hours worked, tips earned and taxes.
“We got paper checks, but the checks don’t have a breakdown or a pay stub, so we never know if the money’s correct,” Victor said.
Then, the paychecks stopped coming. When she spoke to management about her pay, she says she was told her employment was in jeopardy. Victor estimates she’s owed more than $5,000, since March.
Other workers said they often waited weeks to be paid, only to receive a check without a pay stub or accurate wage. When employees raised their concerns about their mistreatment and late paychecks, they said they faced retaliation from management.
Employment attorneys said their experiences reflect a broader pattern across Chicago’s service industry — and that workers have options for recourse.
“We would not be paid on two-week marks. We would be paid sporadically, maybe three weeks or four weeks out at a time,” former Reserv server Shelbi Townsend said.
The West Loop resident said she deposited at least two paychecks that later bounced, causing issues with her bank. One bank notification, viewed by the Sun-Times, showed an April deposit for more than $2,000 that had bounced, causing Townsend’s bank to bar her from making mobile deposits and freeze the money for a 12-day probationary period before she could access it.
“I started getting strange treatment after demanding to be paid,” Townsend said.
Another former employee, who asked to be identified by her first name Nesha, believes she’s owed about $6,000 in wages and tips.
“They pay whenever they decide they want to pay,” Nesha said. “Then you look up, and you’re waiting a month for one piece of check. And then, when you finally get the check, it doesn’t look right for the amount of days that you have worked.”
The workers said they often had to track down management to get paid. They also allege discriminatory treatment, including racist remarks.
“We were told that I could not work because they didn’t want to see me working,” Victor said. “They don’t want to see Black girls working at a Latino party.”
Nesha described a similar situation when management replaced Black workers on certain nights with other staff.
Joseph denied any wrongdoing and said the workers have been paid.
“Yes, we’ve had some pay issues. No one is not paid. That I can guarantee,” he said.
Joseph, who described himself as a 28-year-old entrepreneur, said the restaurant experienced growing pains after opening last year. He blamed ongoing challenges in Printer’s Row, where he said the business failed to gain neighborhood support.
“Due to that, you know, we were not making any kind of income in order to support the business, as well as the employees, on time,” he said. “So sometimes these paychecks were coming a week, maybe two weeks late.”
The restaurant also faced noise complaints in June from some residents. Joseph said he participated in hearings with the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection over residents’ concerns. He felt Reserv was unfairly singled out because of the clientele it attracts, who were mostly Black, and said neighborhood opposition made it more difficult for the restaurant to succeed.
“The neighborhood doesn’t support me,” Joseph said.
The former employees said they’ve either filed ,or are in the process of filing, complaints with the city and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Nesha said the missed wages have made it difficult to cover basic expenses, even travel costs to job interviews.
Victor said she’s had to borrow money from her mom and sister.
“It’s been quite frustrating and stressful, and honestly, it has really affected my mental health,” she said.
But she hopes speaking up will help service industry workers across Chicago understand their rights.
“I just want people to know that they have options, and they don’t have to take this type of treatment,” Victor said. “I know it’s difficult when you’re in this type of job, but I would encourage anyone, if they are comfortable, to speak out.”
Disputing pay and wage theft
“Everybody recognizes that if somebody steals money out of a cash register, that’s theft. A lot of people don’t recognize that if somebody is withholding pay from their employees, that’s also theft; it’s wage theft,” David Fish, attorney and a founding partner of Workplace Law Partners in Chicago, said.
Nationally, wage theft is a multibillion-dollar problem. Between 2017 and 2020, more than $3 billion in stolen wages was recovered on behalf of workers by the U.S. Department of Labor, state labor departments and attorneys general, and through class and collective action litigation, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Wage theft can include failing to compensate workers for time worked; violating minimum wage and overtime laws; misclassifying employees as independent contractors; failing to provide legally required meal breaks; confiscating workers’ tips; or illegally taking deductions from workers’ wages.
Fish said wage theft can disproportionately affect lower-wage workers, women, people of color and undocumented workers, who are often in more precarious financial situations.
He said workers should first try to raise any pay discrepancies directly with their employer.
“Sometimes it will be an honest mistake. Usually, it’s not,” Fish said.
If that fails, he pointed to the state’s “robust” wage laws, including the Wage Payment and Collection Act that allows workers to recover unpaid wages with interest and any legal fees incurred.
“There have been cases where an employer will stiff their employee for a $500 paycheck and then between lawyer fees and penalties, they end up spending $100,000,” Fish said.
Workers can also file complaints with government agencies.
“In Chicago, there is the Chicago Office of Labor Standards. If you’re working anywhere in the state of Illinois, you can file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor,” Fish said, noting those processes are free and designed to help workers recover wages.
Even if a business shuts down, workers may still be able to pursue compensation.
“You can often sue the owners even if the business goes bankrupt, or it goes out of business,” he said, adding that company owners can sometimes be held personally liable for unpaid wages.
Chad Ayers, senior associate attorney at Prinz Law Firm, said wage theft can also come in the form of bounced checks or improper calculations of tips and overtime.
“We see it a lot when individuals are terminated and they’re not being paid out either the correct amounts of wages, or maybe bonuses earned, or the correct vacation time that they earned,” Ayers said.
For workers trying to build a case, Ayers emphasized the importance of tracking and documenting their own records.
“The big thing, generally, is documentation,” he said. “Employees should keep track of their hours and send an email to say, ‘Hey, I didn’t get this.’ Then you have that documentation.”
That record can become critical if employers fail to correct the issue or if the dispute escalates.
“It puts the employer on notice, and it starts to create a document trail for evidence,” Ayers said.
Both attorneys also emphasized that retaliation for raising wage concerns is illegal under Illinois law.
“It is protected, so they shouldn’t be retaliating against anyone,” and workers who are punished for speaking up may have additional legal claims, Ayers said.
Fish said the state and city’s strong legal protections are meant to encourage workers to come forward.
“The laws stand behind them, and they’re very strong laws designed to help employees,” he said. “People should speak up and make sure their wages are protected.”