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Read the press release here.

Uptown Papa John’s Pizza Owners To Pay $500K for Violating Wage Laws

By Carolina Pichardo | August 23, 2016 2:47pm
 The three locations in the $500K settlement are in Washington Heights, Inwood and Kingsbridge in the Bronx.
The three locations in the $500K settlement are in Washington Heights, Inwood and Kingsbridge in the Bronx.
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DNAinfo/Carolina Pichardo

INWOOD — The Papa John’s Pizza slogan might be "better ingredients, better pizza" — but it definitely wasn't better pay for workers at three Manhattan and Bronx-based stores, according to law enforcement.

Papa John's Pizza franchise owner Sultan Ali Lakhani, along with his companies Moregrace LLC, and Thegrace, Inc., was slapped with a settlement totaling $500,000 for shortchanging more than 200 workers, including violating minimum wage and refusing to pay overtime, as well as refusing to reimburse workers for business expenses, according to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the U.S. Labor Department.

The official agencies conducted a three-year joint investigation and also found that Lakhani's upper Manhattan stores at 701 W. 179th St. and 4927 Broadway, as well as at 161 W. 231st St. in Kingsbridge failed to provide delivery workers with proper bicycle safety equipment and bicycle maintenance costs.

“When businesses brazenly violate the law by systematically failing to pay their employees minimum and overtime wages, they rip off some of our state’s most vulnerable workers,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “I have called on corporate leaders in the fast food industry — including Papa John’s — to step up and stop these ongoing violations, which are so pervasive in this company and industry.”

The franchisees — in addition to paying the restitution funds — must also create a complaint procedure for workers, post a statement of employee’s rights and designate an officer to monitor and submit reports to the Attorney General’s Office for three years.

Papa John's Pizza did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

This is the latest action against Papa John's franchises, after Schneiderman's office cracked down on violations at more than 30 Papa John's stores across Queens, The Bronx and Brooklyn.