Comments

1
So much for the "evil business owner" narrative you guys had going.
2
"Since then, the workers who contacted The Stranger say they have watched in horror as the reputations of the owners and the restaurant itself have been dragged through the mud, with reviews... on Yelp saying the owners deserved what they got."



Ya think? Maybe waiting a day to develop a more balanced story might have saved them from the lynch mob? Or is it easier to indict the ownership knowing that the accused will come out of the woodwork with their side of the story without having to the legwork beforehand? I will give you the argument that this indeed is the only way this counterpoint could have been arrived at... but somehow I think not.



I'm a huge fan of The Stranger but its place in local news scene is secure enough that it can leverage its talented writers, one step removed from the amphetamine-fueled Tweeterverse, and use those datapoints to create a comprehensive and considered story.



Moreover, I wonder why some sort of acknowledgement of the role The Stranger played in the early arc of this narrative is not offered here.
4
Roux is pretty good
5
the stranger: we side with workers! unless it affects our lunch options! then fuck 'em!
6
Yesterday, someone indicated they were from the Thunderbird in Ballard and interested in hiring Paseo's cooks.
7
Roux is pretty good...maybe they can reopen for lunch during the week.
8
I can't seem to find the part of the story where Ansel apologized for printing the baseless allegations and insinuations two days ago. Oh yeah, because he apparently isn't sorry for the harm that shit does.



Asshole.
9
No love for Bongos on Aurora by Green Lake? It's some damn fine Carribean food.
10
I'm so over Paseo closing. Move on. This story's legs are buckling.
11
I'm a little baffled as to how they went out of business with the sheer number of sandwiches they sold. Was this one of those "We lose a little bit on each sale, but we make it up in volume" scenarios?



I hope the workers find good jobs soon. They made great food, and they were always working their asses off.


12
@8 - you mean the PIECE OF REPORTING done by the NEWS REPORTER about a lawsuit that has been filed against the owners claiming wage theft? the story that was published AFTER the pace closed and therefore couldn't have done ANY FUCKING HARM to the business that was already closed?



who's really the asshole here, the reporter doing their job to get the information out of the ASSHOLE WHO OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T KNOW SHIT trying to tell said professional how to do their job?
13
I'm no accountant, but having $50K more in assets than you have in debts, doesn't seem like financial trouble. And if they were in trouble, why couldn't they have just raised prices? Considering the lines at Paseo, it seems unlikely a modest increase would have impacted sales.
14
@12. You're absolutely right. I'm sure these nine awesome workers put time and effort into contacting the Stranger to set the record straight because they felt no harm was being done.



If that makes you sleep better at night then go ahead and tell yourself that... as many times as you need to.
15
Who gives a shit. It was obviously run poorly if it went bankrupt so who cares what the reason is? I was never impressed with their grisly food. Good riddance.
16
Boy this has to be one of the best/clearest examples of not jumping to fucking conclusions and internet hive mindlessness in a long while.

A couple of days ago we've got hordes of folks engaging in baseless speculation and rumor creation and ridiculing the whole idea of innocent until proven guilty. And now we see that just because there's a lawsuit doesn't mean jackshit. There are a whole lot of people who ought to be offering up apologies in this thread.
17
Don't hold your breath on getting that $475, Tyler.
18
At least the counterpoint was offered in a sympathetic light (as in letting people tell their own stories).



Moving on...
19
The thing is, the employees can feel the way they want to feel - from the list of creditors, it looks like Paseo is in some kind of legit wage/tax trouble.



You don't usually file for bankruptcy with approaching $2 million/year in cash flow while your assets are greater than your known liabilities, unless there's something big that's about to come down.
20
Maybe the people suing are people looking for a quick buck or maybe there is more to the story. I am curious though, were the employees that are suing immigrants? Some unscrupulous employers take advantage of immigrants. Not saying that happened here, we don't know. I hope whatever the situation, if the people suing are scammers, I hope they pay the price. If the management ripped off the workers, I hope they pay the price.
21
@19: jesus don't you fucking shitheads ever learn? Enough with the baseless speculation already.
22
@16 I will gladly eat my words. Paseo always seemed like a great place to work, with owners who valued their employees and vice versa. I shouldn't have let the lawsuit get me down so easily. My bad.
23
@21 Actually this article changes nothing. Just that some of the employees have affection for the owners.
24
Anez-hole is just continuing Slog's fine tradition of shoot first, ask questions later journalism. Outrage journalism at its finest with no better practitioner than Anez-hole.



Remember that 'disabled' vet who took out the $500,000 atm-loan on the home he inherited and owned outright? And then didn't pay the money back? Outrage! Did we mention his health problems were unrelated to his service and he served in the Navy during Vietnam and peeled potatoes for 2 years in Hawaii? OUTRAGE!
25
I heard through the grape vine that employees were being paid under the table and not getting paid appropriately for over time.
26
That place always a line of people down they street and they weren't making money? And they were a cash only operation?

Uh huh.

27
@21:



Fact: bankruptcy.



Fact: Assets listed greater than liabilities.



Fact: Pretty much every body of government that can possibly be on a company's ass named as creditors.



The owners of Paseo are behind those facts, not me or evil employees.



But feel free to retort again with more name-calling.
28
Friends in the industry are saying they heard that employees were paid under the table and were not fairly compensated for over time.
29
They joked about setting up a Kickstarter of their own, but for now,

DON'T JOKE ABOUT IT, JUST DO IT.

Seriously, these people are in a better position than about 99% of people who want to open a restaurant.
30
Why are people taking this as the last word in the situation? The folks who filed the lawsuit cannot talk to the press without damaging their lawsuit, so their side isn't represented here. You aren't going to get the full story until this case reaches the court.
31
There's no way a place that popular goes bankrupt unless the owners are :



A. Complete idiots

B. Evading taxes
32
@31 Good list, let me add one more possibility:

C. Money Laundering
33
In the words of Veronica Corningstone, the first three comments on this story are Grade A Bologna! First of all, with the information available, there are no grounds upon which to definitively condemn or vindicate Paseo's owners. And the Stranger hasn't done either; it simply shared with their readers a public document that had bearing on the story, and now they're reporting on another perspective.

That said, we have every reason to be inclined to believe these very serious allegations. Taking on a protracted legal action is generally a last resort for workers. There are enormous costs and doing so threatens their ability to gain employment in the future. Furthermore, workers are at a financial disadvantage in comparison to their employers, an obstacle which is very difficult to overcome in our legal system. Justice may be blind, but the the legal process favors those with money and resources. For this reason, I would be very surprised if the workers did not take this action in response to real wrong doing and on then because they saw no other alternative. Are some of the allegations exaggerated to make a better case? That might be a fair argument. But believe with any hint of certainty that these allegations are baseless with the information currently available reflects nothing more than anti-worker prejudice.

And for gosh sakes, did anyone notice that all the former workers trying to vindicate the owners are also owed back wages?! Paying your workers is the first responsibility of any employer - when the business is doing well, you get the profits, when its not you take the losses. If you want your employees to share in your losses than share the profits with them too - make them a partner in your business! But as long as they are employees, associates, or whatever, you should be fulfilling your obligations to them first no matter what. Your suppliers, your landlord, they can deal with late or defaulted payments. When companies are in the red, they close, but when employees are in the red, they lose their house. Employees should never be asked to take late or reduced pay. Just because some employees feel like its no big deal that they're owed money, doesn't discredit employees who aren't willing to accept this failure by management.
34
One ALLEGATION of wrongdoing in the form of a lawsuit, is all it takes to put a small business out of business. Why? It costs, on average, $200,000 in legal fees to defend the business before they get to court. Think depositions, mediation fees, private investigators, legal filings, attorneys fees, court reporter fees, transcription fees, etc. If they go to court that can double. So if the business is exonerated, the business pays $0 in court imposed damages. But they still get to pay their own legal fees. If the plaintiffs get a judgment of ever $1, then the defense pays their legal fees and those of the plaintiff. It's a case where businesses would often rather pay a plaintiff $90,000, admit no liability, and be "wrong", then be exonerated later and be out $400k. We need tort reform or we will just see more of this.

Restaurants, as a business class, have notoriously small margins (less than 5%), poor cash-flow. They are asset rich and cash poor. Only about 25% of the cost of the business is the food they serve. Over 50% is labor. The balance is rent, utilities, taxes, overhead and the like. 4 of 5 that open, don't make it 5 years. It's an optional expense for customers, so small price increases can doom you, by having your customer eat at home or go to the competitors in the next block. All of that is why restaurant worker pay sucks. Its not greedy owners, its fickle customers that don't want to pay higher prices.
35
Lol, I missed the back wages part. Can someone explain to me why they cannot - and I know this is going to sound absolutely crazy - reopen the restaurant, sell some fucking sandwiches that apparently drive people to insanity and pay their employees out of the till?

I know it sounds all kooky and shit, but maybe, just maybe they can get some people through the doors?
36
@33. Uh, I am out of coffee and I don't have access to adderall, but I feel like I should at least respond. A lot of the critique has to do with a rush to publish without the bases being covered in a way that - while it may not satisfy the publication's need to be first on the scene - still diminishes its credibility. Read Ansel's first post. It isn't necessarily a complete hatchet job but when you place rather knee-jerk TweetCrack screenshot to throw shade on the defendents, it diminishes the foreground that should be reserved for protagonists and antagonists who actually lived this story. Sensationalist and underbaked, IMO.
37
In any situation like this, there are going to be multiple sides of the story, and a lot of information that isn't going to come out all at once. That doesn't mean it's wrong to report information as it comes in.



I wouldn't call myself a fan of Ansel's writing, but I don't think he deserves the flack he's taking here. When the story broke, all we knew is that Paseo was closing and there was a wage theft lawsuit filed back in September. As of today, we know that they are filing for bankruptcy and that another group of former employees disputes the validity of the wage theft suit. Tomorrow we may learn more, and someday they can do an in-depth feature on it.



Judging by the reaction of pretty much everyone I know, in real life and on social media, this is a big fucking deal to a lot of folks and there's a demand for information as it becomes available.
38
Apparently they still have a Paseo open in Key West. Don't know the significance of that...
(except maybe ROAD TRIP).
39
THE PASEO OWNERS NEVER RIPPED US OFF EXCEPT FOR THE $450.00 THEY OWE ME RIGHT NOW BUT THAT'S LIKE NOT THEIR FAULT AND FUCK THOSE OTHER GUYS FOR MAKING THEM LOOK BAD
40
I've known the owner, his sons, all of the employees - including the plaintiffs, all since 2007. And I can tell you that not one of you knows a damn thing what this is really all about. And frankly, it is none of your business. We'll see how many of those charges from the restaurant's highest paid employees stick to wall when this goes to court. Their leader makes your $15 an hour wage look like a joke, he's now going for six figures with his conspirators. My heart goes out to the owner, his sons, and all of the employees who made it a better place to work once those bullies were ousted. And now a great place to work and eat at have been taken away from Seattle and all from visitors from everywhere. Congrats to the workplace bullies.
41
@37. Fair point.
42
The back wages part has to probably do with the filing date of the action and wages out at that point in time. As the owners had to prepare at some point in advance they would have had those numbers ready to fill in at that moment.





Regarding the bankruptcy, what would happen to a small business like a restaurant, your cash flow is being turned around and paid to creditors, all of whom will have a different time frame requiring payment. The bankruptcy, since assets outweigh liabilities, should allow for the owners to restructure, sell off whatever assets are necessary to meet all their obligations to listed creditors, but also limit their liability to the lawsuit, potentially. It depends on the validity of the claims. What probably happens, like a lot of small, family run businesses, cash only, is a lot went under the table during the formative years. Now, there's two options, if they kept track of the hours paid under the table, they can prove they paid the wages, but they didn't pay employment taxes (even though they were collecting taxes, inc dedicated taxes) on those particular wages. If they can't prove the hours were not worked, not required, etc, they will have to pay both those wages, probably at an expected rate of earnings, not the actual wage, possibly a penalty amount on top of that, and the taxes.


I would assume what they were likely more looking at is the tax liability on unreported income and unreported wages rather than the wage claim itself (which is what, 4 people, lets say 2 hours a day, your looking at 2000 hours a year (one full time employee base wage essentially) and if its a couple years, 4000 hours, and if the $20 hour expectations are figured, its what, maybe $80 to $100K, maybe more depending on the statute of limitation on the hours claim. But, really, its probably then about taxes rather than a payment equal to 2.5 to 5% of annual cash flow)
43
Their taking cash only, reports of them paying their employees in cash, alongside not paying their taxes really don't jibe with them being 100% on the up and up.
44
@40: "Their leader makes your $15 an hour wage look like a joke, he's now going for six figures with his conspirators. My heart goes out to the owner, his sons, and all of the employees who made it a better place to work once those bullies were ousted. And now a great place to work and eat at have been taken away from Seattle and all from visitors from everywhere. Congrats to the workplace bullies"

If the owners broke the law and those employees were due the amounts, it's hardly extortion.
45
@43: The only known fact in your post is that they were cash-only. So is the beloved Dick's Drive-in and a lot of quality small businesses. We shouldn't assume that means the business is shady.

46
Great interviews, but can you please explain the financial part of this article?



When you add the information about "$30,425 in debts and $81,971 in assets, according to a court filing." can you link us to where you found the information?



Also, I don't know why you even mentioned that. Assets greater than liabilities = equity. Please do not put information in an article if you do not know what it means.
47
Actually I think Ansel's coverage of this story has been more even-handed than anything he's done, and far less inflammatory. Not his fault if commenters take limited facts and jump to immediate, unsupported conclusions; happens all over the Web every day.

What's funny is that now people are jumping off the guilty bandwagon and onto the innocent one, based on this single story. How about you just wait and see, folks?
48
I suspect the lawsuit is only relevant because it exposed that the owners were not paying payroll taxes on the shared tip pool. I imagine that the annual CASH gratuity through this place was north of $100k in cash tips. During a lawsuit, if that tip share was exposed and not reported, the owners are liable for back taxes. Restaurant owners, unfairly have to pay payroll taxes on employee tips. I can tell you a ton of non-corporate restaurants take painstaking measure to avoid these unfair taxes. The DOR is going to move in and ask for every last penny. If they knew they were going to get a judgment for $20k in back taxes for ten years. Yer done. File for Bankruptcy. Just some educated speculation from a guy whose owned a few restaurants.
49
fuck this, i'm going to the honey hole.
50
@37 and @47: Thanks, guys.
51
I would definitely consider going in on opening a new Paseo Sandwich shop and hire the 9 employees who are looking for work. So long as someone actually knows the recipe, this would be a no-brainer.



And I would accept credit cards. Anyone else in?
52
I have been involved in many employee and workplace discrimination lawsuits (as corporate HR) and the truth is that there are always many sides to the story, however all it takes is one person to file a complaint that has merit (or a lot of grey area) to put a small business out of business immediately. Considering this was filed 2 months ago, my guess is that there is enough of a concern on the defendant's part that they will lose or more likely, have to settle with money to make it go away. And unfortunately even if only 1 thing in the complaint can be proven, they are screwed. But it's very important to remember that anyone can claim anything against anyone..that doesn't make any of it true. I really hope the allegations are baseless and if so, that the owners can recover. Somehow I doubt they had great liability insurance.
53
I would definitely consider going in on opening an ALL-NEW Paseo Sandwich shop and hire the 9 employees who are looking for work. So long as someone actually knows the recipe, this would be a no-brainer.

And I would accept credit cards. Anyone else in?
54
Try Geo's across the street from the Ballard spot
55
Beware of the Facebook group named "SAVE PASEO" https://www.facebook.com/savepaseo and their corresponding Kickstarter.

They have nothing to do with the original owners. It appears they are trying to make bank (250,000 grand) off the Paseo name and off of the owner's unjustly tarnished reputation (in addition to mass uncritical assent to his "guilt").



Here are some more testimonials of Paseo employees gathered from Facebook, defending the integrity and behavior of their employer against the accusations of "the family":



Cam Nixon: "To whom it may concern about Paseo,

Due to the events today my phone has been getting blown up, I believe it's easier to just address this here for all of you. The rumors are true that Paseo's is closed for good. It is a very emotional day to lose an such a staple of an establishment for this city and my heart goes out to all of the people who loved us and supported us. I loved this establishment and am truly grateful for the years I had to the pleasure to spend there. There are so many people involved who worked so hard and feel the same way. It hurts to see our owners being attacked because I've never met anyone who treats their workers so compassionately and is willing to to listen. Today we lost a family run success story, the allegations are sickening, I worked with the people who are pressing charges first hand experience I personally believe it's bullshit, they were abusive to other coworkers, physically and verbally. They refused to perform duties for which they were compensated, so they were let go, which is fair in it's own right. Let alone the horrible ways in which they acted. Any good owner would cut out a poisonous element to protect their workers and quality of product. There will be a lot of misinformation in the news and media for a few days but I hope the truth comes out. I have to stand up for the character of the owners, most people who were hired stayed for years and years due to the excellent treatment and a fun but very busy work environment. We were not treated like slaves, that is an absolutely ridiculous statement. It is a malicious attack full of lies I can attest to as a firsthand witness and feels like a bad dream. They did have fair breaks and would scream at others for trying to take their own. They were so miserable people had quit because of them or request transfers. I havent heard all of stories because my coworkers and I are currently remembering all of the good times. Due to legal elements I can't go into everything in full detail, but it is truely as a sad day, that affects the lives of many who have given a lot of care to providing Fremont and Ballard with delicious grub. Thank you for listening. I hope you loved our sandwiches as much as we loved making them."



Testimonial of Ciris Murphy, another employee of Paseo:

"It is very easy for people to draw conclusions or make comments that are not even close to reality the owners were the best bosses I ever had. Walk thank you for everything you've given me and my family food home clothes .."



Testimonial of Jordan Platz, another employee of Paseo:

"Paseo has treated me and everyone else in our crew unreasonably well. 5 week paid vacation, medical leave. Any word against them is complete Injustice. The people who were fired were some of the worst people I've ever met. They physically and mentally assaulted there coworkers and got treated way better then they should have. This is totally fucked"



Testimonial of Mario Triolo Jr:

"AGREED with everything Jordan said the paseo family treated me wonderfully and shame on the fired employees total lies"



Testimonal of Tyler Grantham: i am a former employee of paseo, and I worked with the group of people who are suing the company. Those four people are lying. the owner and management of paseo treated their employees WAY better than is required and they went above and beyond what is standard in the industry. The plaintiffs in the case were physically and emotionally abusive , not only to coworkers, but to management as well. i have witnessed their abuse multiple ways, first, I was harassed personally. One example is their verbal abuse (cussing and yelling at us)any time tips were not up to par, myself and other cashiers were ridiculed. The tips, which were split evenly between everyone from dishwasher to prepper to cook to cashier, were a huge amount of income for all employees, however they were not considered part of our compensation by the owners, as some people have said on the Internet. this is just one of many examples of abuse I personally recieved. I also was present at times of insubordination on the part of the plaintiffs, I acted as translator between them and managers, one time a manager calmly requested that Jose, one of the plaintiffs who was employed as grill cook, change the way he prepared and held cooked meats. This request resulted in Jose blowing up and screaming at the manager, during business hours in front of customers and many staff members, and basically refusing to comply with management's requests. This example is also only one of many along the same lines. Any time one of their group had a problem with any coworker, they would all gang up on the rest. One morning prep cook ended up quitting after working there for four years, saying that he could not deal with the four of them anymore. Other coworkers have been burned multiple times by Paulina, another of the plaintiffs, usually after burning someone, she, and often times her brother, Jose would laugh. The four plaintiffs were treated so well by the owners, including receiving loans which they never repaid. They should have been fired years prior to when they finally were, but were given many many warnings and second chances. In my opinion, the lawsuit they filed is a complete lie and an attempt attack a boss who tried to do nothing but help them. They had it very good at paseo and it provided a living which allowed one of them to purchase a house, I know because I have been there."



I have personally conversed with additional former Paseo employees who corroborate these statements, and also state they quit largely as a result of ill-treatment NOT at the hands of Lorenzo, but of "the family" of four accusers.



Beware of unjust allegations and premature verdicts in the media. There is an exceptional amount of testimony contradicting the four plaintiffs, and the whole basis underneath the "Save Paseo" project.



Think critically.
56
I am SHOCKED! SHOCKED I tell you that The Stranger did not do any real due diligence and only told one side of the story. SHOCKED!



I had hopes when a new Managing Editor came in that something would change. But, reading the story, it was nothing but an inflammatory push-piece that only relied on supposition and implication. That's not journalism, that's...well, whatever The Stranger is - Opinion as news.



But...yeah...no.
57
Beware of the Facebook group named "SAVE PASEO" https://www.facebook.com/savepaseo and their corresponding Kickstarter.



They have nothing to do with the original owners. It appears they are trying to make bank (250,000 grand) off the Paseo name and off of the owner's unjustly tarnished reputation (in addition to mass uncritical assent to his "guilt").



Here are some more testimonials of Paseo employees gathered from Facebook, defending the integrity and behavior of their employer against the accusations of "the family":



Cam Nixon: "To whom it may concern about Paseo,



Due to the events today my phone has been getting blown up, I believe it's easier to just address this here for all of you. The rumors are true that Paseo's is closed for good. It is a very emotional day to lose an such a staple of an establishment for this city and my heart goes out to all of the people who loved us and supported us. I loved this establishment and am truly grateful for the years I had to the pleasure to spend there. There are so many people involved who worked so hard and feel the same way. It hurts to see our owners being attacked because I've never met anyone who treats their workers so compassionately and is willing to to listen. Today we lost a family run success story, the allegations are sickening, I worked with the people who are pressing charges first hand experience I personally believe it's bullshit, they were abusive to other coworkers, physically and verbally. They refused to perform duties for which they were compensated, so they were let go, which is fair in it's own right. Let alone the horrible ways in which they acted. Any good owner would cut out a poisonous element to protect their workers and quality of product. There will be a lot of misinformation in the news and media for a few days but I hope the truth comes out. I have to stand up for the character of the owners, most people who were hired stayed for years and years due to the excellent treatment and a fun but very busy work environment. We were not treated like slaves, that is an absolutely ridiculous statement. It is a malicious attack full of lies I can attest to as a firsthand witness and feels like a bad dream. They did have fair breaks and would scream at others for trying to take their own. They were so miserable people had quit because of them or request transfers. I havent heard all of stories because my coworkers and I are currently remembering all of the good times. Due to legal elements I can't go into everything in full detail, but it is truely as a sad day, that affects the lives of many who have given a lot of care to providing Fremont and Ballard with delicious grub. Thank you for listening. I hope you loved our sandwiches as much as we loved making them."



Testimonial of Ciris Murphy, another employee of Paseo:



"It is very easy for people to draw conclusions or make comments that are not even close to reality the owners were the best bosses I ever had. Walk thank you for everything you've given me and my family food home clothes .."



Testimonial of Jordan Platz, another employee of Paseo:



"Paseo has treated me and everyone else in our crew unreasonably well. 5 week paid vacation, medical leave. Any word against them is complete Injustice. The people who were fired were some of the worst people I've ever met. They physically and mentally assaulted there coworkers and got treated way better then they should have. This is totally fucked"



Testimonial of Mario Triolo Jr:



"AGREED with everything Jordan said the paseo family treated me wonderfully and shame on the fired employees total lies"



Testimonal of Tyler Grantham: i am a former employee of paseo, and I worked with the group of people who are suing the company. Those four people are lying. the owner and management of paseo treated their employees WAY better than is required and they went above and beyond what is standard in the industry. The plaintiffs in the case were physically and emotionally abusive , not only to coworkers, but to management as well. i have witnessed their abuse multiple ways, first, I was harassed personally. One example is their verbal abuse (cussing and yelling at us)any time tips were not up to par, myself and other cashiers were ridiculed. The tips, which were split evenly between everyone from dishwasher to prepper to cook to cashier, were a huge amount of income for all employees, however they were not considered part of our compensation by the owners, as some people have said on the Internet. this is just one of many examples of abuse I personally recieved. I also was present at times of insubordination on the part of the plaintiffs, I acted as translator between them and managers, one time a manager calmly requested that Jose, one of the plaintiffs who was employed as grill cook, change the way he prepared and held cooked meats. This request resulted in Jose blowing up and screaming at the manager, during business hours in front of customers and many staff members, and basically refusing to comply with management's requests. This example is also only one of many along the same lines. Any time one of their group had a problem with any coworker, they would all gang up on the rest. One morning prep cook ended up quitting after working there for four years, saying that he could not deal with the four of them anymore. Other coworkers have been burned multiple times by Paulina, another of the plaintiffs, usually after burning someone, she, and often times her brother, Jose would laugh. The four plaintiffs were treated so well by the owners, including receiving loans which they never repaid. They should have been fired years prior to when they finally were, but were given many many warnings and second chances. In my opinion, the lawsuit they filed is a complete lie and an attempt attack a boss who tried to do nothing but help them. They had it very good at paseo and it provided a living which allowed one of them to purchase a house, I know because I have been there."



I have personally conversed with additional former Paseo employees who corroborate these statements, and also state they quit largely as a result of ill-treatment NOT at the hands of Lorenzo, but of "the family" of four accusers.



Beware of unjust allegations and premature verdicts in the media. There is an exceptional amount of testimony contradicting the four plaintiffs, and the whole basis underneath the "Save Paseo" project.



Think critically.
58
I'm looking for the part of the article where the defending employees say that the suing employees in the lawsuit were either NOT working >40hrs or were being paid their overtime, with proper reporting and taxation. I'm not finding it.


59
@53



No.
60
I'm not buying this "single lawsuit is going to put them out of business" when the case is hitting the courtroom NEXT OCTOBER. Are you telling me that you wouldn't run a perfectly good business until then to at the very least earn a bit more money to either go bankrupt or better afford a defense or settlement?
61
@56 I'm continuing my boycott on Liberty.







Thanks for reminding me.
62
@60: why the need to engage utterly pointless and groundless speculation? There are very few concrete facts right now and nowhere near enough to draw any conclusions from. What I see is a whole bunch of folks engaging in mental jerkoff.

63
@58: Funny that. I'm seeing a lot of smugness and demands for apologies, instead, they're going to have to wait for the case like the rest of us.
64
@62: It's a pretty human thing to speculate wildly and the court of public opinion has no obligation to assume anything in the name of "fairness".
65
@64: fine. But those who are speculating shouldn't take offense when others tell them we think they're so full of shit their breath stinks.

I know only the facts that are publicly available, but I do know that there are a shit ton of reasons why restaurants close (death rate for restaurants is unreal) or folks declare bankruptcy.
66
How many of the nine have been posting to online reports?
67
@65: "But those who are speculating shouldn't take offense when others tell them we think they're so full of shit their breath stinks."

Well, when you sound so rational and not at all driven by emotion with spittle-flying, how could anyone not be won over? Obviously your charm makes up for your lack of convincing "counterfact" to offer.
68
@67: Point taken. I am just very sensitive to people being tried in the court of public opinion and the mob rush to judgment that I've seen here and the other two threads. Maybe Lorenzo is guilty of something, but maybe he isn't. I was skeptical as hell about the lawsuit when it was first reported and what I've seen since has made me more skeptical.

Right now, my inclination is to think that a good person is getting a public screwing. I'm willing to admit I'm wrong, but it's going to take facts and not a bunch of online conspiracy theorizing to get me there.
69
Did anyone think to get a copy of the bankruptcy petition and attached schedules and notice of creditor's meeting? a) These are publicly available through the clerk of the Bankruptcy court or through the online PACER court system b) the creditor's meeting is also a public hearing... anyone can attend and lastly, and perhaps most importantly the petition sets forth what the petitioner(s) claim are their debts and assets, which debts are secured and unsecured, what type of relief they are requesting and to whom they say they owe money. Eureka... the intrepid reporters will no longer have to rely upon clandestine meetings in closed restaurants whilst recently joined the ranks of the unemployed reflect upon their state in a bottle of beer... no longer will the reporter have to volley back and forth between the employees who are suing and the ones who are defending... and they could simply report on the facts as presented in the petition and attached schedules. It's a time honored journalistic tradition, but one I'd recommend the Stranger embrace with abandon.
70
@69 Thank you. I agree with you on doing some actual research for a piece, not just writing about emotions. Before anyone says that I can go look up the court documents, how about the writers and editors actually report where we can view the documents or even link the documents for us?
71
With the crazy amount of business they had and the prices they charged, how could they be in financial trouble? Something was very off.
72
With the crazy amount of business they had and the prices they charged, how could they be in financial trouble?? Something is wrong with this picture.
73
@58 You're not finding that because What legal evidence would the OTHER workers have that says the family weren't working how many hours or how much they were paid. They can probably assume by calculating the hours they see them working and what not but people don't really calculate other people's hours. And they don't see the check others are paid either. By the looks of it, the family doesn't seem to be friendly with other workers. They wouldn't be talking about their paychecks with the other workers. The other workers wouldn't want to cause trouble by saying "And I don't think they were even working that many hours and I can't know for sure but I'd bet that they were paid for every hour they worked" without any proof. But they did comment that they surely did take a lot of breaks, which they can see for themselves at work every day.
74
@72: Jesus. Really, you can't figure that out for yourself? Do you know the profit margins on many food service places? It's often ridiculously small. Even high turnover places are skating on the edge.



Just for idle speculation/scenario setting: let's say they have an accountant who handles all the bills/payroll/taxes. Let's say the accountant has been cooking the books (happens all the fucking time in every industry out there) and they suddenly discover that they owe a vendor a shitload of money. Or unpaid payroll taxes. You can actually go a fair amount of time before IRS drops the hammer. One place I know of the accountant had been skimming payroll taxes for almost two years (7 quarters) before the organization found out. Suddenly they were hit with almost 200K in taxes due immediately. So yeah, you shut the doors fast and seek any protection you can.



The poverty of imagination here is frightening.
76
@74 The owners could say something, but they haven't so what the hell do you expect?
77
@68: "Right now, my inclination is to think that a good person is getting a public screwing. I'm willing to admit I'm wrong, but it's going to take facts and not a bunch of online conspiracy theorizing to get me there."

Right, and we'll ALL have to wait for that.
78
@73: ". The other workers wouldn't want to cause trouble by saying "And I don't think they were even working that many hours and I can't know for sure but I'd bet that they were paid for every hour they worked" without any proof. But they did comment that they surely did take a lot of breaks, which they can see for themselves at work every day."

So they're not causing trouble, but they're causing trouble. They appear to be discussing how much they hate the other workers but don't have actual proof that the other workers are lying about any of that. And of course they're angry, the owner blames the other employees for shutting down.
79
Here's the bankruptcy petition... https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclou…
80
So extremely popular, with 45-minute lines, and a "cult following", catering mostly to middle and upper middle classes, but 'cash only', really? This just stinks. Just pay the tax man and reopen when you are all caught up. Keep expenses down by charging credit card users a transaction fee.
81
So extremely popular, awesome food with 45-minute lines, a "cult following", and 2 restaurants catering mostly to the middle and upper middle classes, but still just 'cash only', really!? This just stinks. I can't opine on the employee drama. Just pay the tax man your fair share and reopen your stores when you are all caught up. Maybe you don't close for a long vacation this year. Something this successful and popular should not die like this, especially blaming your employees for your own management issues - everyone has them. Keep prices down by charging credit card users a transaction fee. Open a few more stores, maybe one in SE Seattle?! That's my 2 cents.
82
The OWS and $15 an hour effect. Unhappy. Sue. Lots of middle class people in Seattle are forced into bankruptcy by lawyers. One only need to visit the King County courthouse where the judges are so cynical they actually represent and assist these lawyers. The owner made the mistake of hiring malcontents who are aggrieved when their cash cow is lessened. It becomes easier to walk away. The amount of the bankruptcy suggests the business was doing fine but it was just easier to go bankrupt. Such is Seattle.
83
@81: A tax lawyer friend suggested it was not a good sign that the Department of Labor and Industries was such a high priority creditor with Paseo's bankruptcy filing. Who knows how long this has been going on for?
84
Other Coast Deli was and is far superioir to that Paeo dump: http://www.othercoastcafe.com/Location.h…
85
@82: There is no sort of corporate lawbreaking someone won't justify out of sheer hatred and stupidity. You're why the middle-class has nearly disappeared, not workers.
86
@74 For someone who wants facts and decries specious speculation, you sure have crafted a nice fiction.

If there were problems with the bottom line (hard to believe), there were ample opportunities to fix it by reducing costs (smaller portions), increasing volume (more employees? more stores?) or by raising prices. Just quitting looks not just suspicious, it looks criminal.
87
Why are there only 7 employees in the picture?
88
The employees who lost their jobs are not supporting the kickstarter aimed at bringing their jobs back? Do they prefer a corporate cow coming in and forgetting them all together? It sounds like these unemployed losers don't have much sense or something suspicious is going on...
89
The employees who lost their jobs are not supporting the kickstarter aimed at bringing their jobs back? Do they prefer a corporate cow coming in and forgetting them all together? None of this makes sense.
90
@88: It is a corporate cow, some guy viral marketing for his food delivery service.

Considering you created this account to post this, I wouldn't be surprised if this was another garbage marketing effort on your part.

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