A chef, restaurateur and "Top Chef" finalist with restaurants in Baltimore, Frederick and Washington, D.C. is being sued for accusations of wage violations.
Former line cooks at Volt in Frederick and Volt Family Meal in Baltimore say Bryan Voltaggio and his partners Hilda Staples, Market Street Management LLC and Volt II LLC owe them money for unpaid overtime.
The plaintiffs said Voltaggio and his business partners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying the cooks for all the hours and overtime they worked, according to the federal lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
Sunday Alexander, former line cook at Volt Family Meal in Baltimore, and Heather Hensley, a former line cook at Volt in Frederick both said they regularly came to work hours early to prepare ingredients, but were instructed not to clock in until their shifts were scheduled to start.
In the lawsuit, Alexander and Hensley said they regularly performed work that was considered "off the clock," including helping complete a cookbook, The Baltimore Sun reported. They also accused Voltaggio of using cook auditions as a way to obtain free labor.
Ex-employees told The Frederick News-Post they were asked to work as much as 80 hours per week but only paid for 40 hours.
Voltaggio did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the lawsuit.
He opened his first restaurant, Volt, in Frederick in 2008 and is now involved in a total of nine restaurants, according to his website.
