District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb has filed a lawsuit against Talea Ristorante and its owner, Hamza Hadani, alleging widespread wage theft and other violations of workers’ rights.

The lawsuit claims that Hadani and the popular Italian restaurant in Cathedral Heights systematically underpaid employees denied them sick leave, failed to provide overtime pay, and retaliated against those who raised concerns.

“Talea’s employees are the backbone of our city’s vibrant restaurant industry, yet they are being exploited,” Schwalb said in a news release. “Servers, hosts, food runners, bussers, and bartenders are underpaid, lied to, denied sick leave, refused overtime — and when they speak up, they’re intimidated and fired. My office is committed to holding businesses accountable and ensuring that workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Further, Schwalb said the investigation revealed that Hadani paid many tipped employees less than half of the legal tipped minimum wage. When Talea opened on June 22, 2024, the tipped minimum wage in D.C. was $8 per hour, increasing to $10 per hour on July 1. Despite this, some employees reportedly earned as little as $3.99 per hour.

The investigation also found that the restaurant failed to ensure workers’ total earnings, including tips, met the standard minimum wage of $17.50 per hour.

Employees often worked up to 70 hours a week without receiving the legally required overtime rate of one-and-a-half times their regular pay. Some workers were allegedly instructed not to clock in until they began table service, effectively depriving them of pay for up to two hours each shift.

The lawsuit further claims that Talea denied paid sick leave to employees, requiring them to find their own replacements when ill. In several cases, workers were fired for missing work without a doctor’s note, including one employee who could not afford medical care due to being underpaid.

The Office of Attorney the General also alleges that Talea failed to maintain proper payroll records. Workers received handwritten checks without itemized statements, leaving them unaware of their hourly pay, deductions, or total hours worked. According to Schwalb’s office, this practice enabled Talea to conceal wage theft.

Investigators also said they found documentation of retaliation against employees who spoke out. Workers who questioned their pay faced threats and profanity-laced reprimands.

Hadani allegedly discouraged employees from discussing wages and threatened them with defamation lawsuits.

When Hadani suspected certain employees were cooperating with the attorney general’s investigation, he fired them and contacted their new employers in an attempt to have them dismissed again.

Schwalb said the lawsuit seeks to compel Talea and Hadani to comply with D.C. employment laws, compensate affected workers with back pay and restitution, and impose civil penalties for the violations.

Commenting on Schwalb’s social media announcement about the lawsuit, ANC Commissioner Trupti Patel celebrated the attorney general for his work.

“My hero the only one defending workers,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter .