Rick Ross’ Business Busted For Violating Labor Wage & Hour Division Mandates

Rick Ross opened his first Wingstop restaurant in Memphis over ten years ago and now owns at least twenty-five of them. It was reported in 2014 that he made an estimated $7 million from his Wingstop investments. It was recently reported that Ross’ multiple Wingstop locations were hit with over $100k bill for labor violations.

Rick was penalized by The Department Of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for several violations at five Wingstop restaurant locations in Mississippi. According to Mississippi Today, Ross and his family compelled their employees to pay for uniforms, safety training, background checks, and cash register shortages unlawfully.

In addition, the labor department discovered that they had been illegally deducting money from employees’ wages, leaving some with take-home pay of less than $7.25 an hour. Investigators later discovered that in June 2021, a 15-year-old illegally worked past 10 p.m. Teens are not allowed to work past 7 p.m. under federal law.

“Restaurant industry employees work hard, often for low wages, and many depend on every dollar earned to make ends meet,” Jackson’s Wage and Hour Division director, Audrey Hall, said in a statement.

“The law prevents Boss Wing Enterprises LLC from shifting operating costs to workers … or to allow a worker’s pay to fall below the minimum wage rate.”

Business records filed with the state list Rick Ross, his older sister and assistant, Tawanda Roberts, and mother Tommie Roberts on the Boss Wings Enterprises LLC roster. The Department of Labor fined the franchise company a total of $62,753 in civil penalties and collected $51,674 in wages owed to 244 workers across the five stores. Meanwhile, the DOC news statement summarised the situation.

“The operator of five Wing Stop franchise locations in Mississippi who made employees pay for their uniforms, safety training, background checks and cash register shortages – and violated child labor regulations – has been held accountable by the U.S. Department of Labor, and paid $114,427 in back wages, liquidated damages and civil penalties.”

Wingstop issued a statement distancing itself from Boss Wings LLC.

“The restaurants investigated by the DOL are owned and operated by a franchisee, not Wingstop Restaurants Inc. Our franchise agreement requires all of our franchisees to operate under our operating standards, which requires compliance with all laws and regulations. We were not previously aware of the DOL action against Boss Wings LLC.”

Last September, he gifted a Wingstop franchise to his son for his 16th birthday. Despite having enough money to buy his son a franchise, he chose not to pay the labor fairly. Let’s wait and see what happens. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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