After being forced to fork over $2.3 million in back wages for more than 800 workers at nine restaurants, the Ollie's Noodle Shop mini-chain is filing for bankruptcy. Ollie's has three Manhattan locations, two on the Upper West Side and one in Times Square; owner Tsu Yue Wang expects to keep the restaurants open while filing for Chapter 11. Wang still owes some $250,000, which is due within the next five months.
After years of protests, the wages were recovered on behalf of cooks, delivery workers and waiters, some of whom were owed as much as $30,000. "Just because a corporate entity is now bankrupt, that will not stop us from seeking money from the individuals that operated the company," labor department enforcer Lorelei Boylan tells Crain's. And a lawyer for Wang said, “They'll continue to operate their business. They just need to work out a payment over time of the correct remaining balance due.”
