Has the Grinch relocated from Whoville?
According to the Religion and Labor Network of Austin, which recently held a candlelight vigil at the Cumberland Road Salvation Army in an effort to get a local businessman to pay former employees of his now out-of-business restaurant, the anti-Christmas curmudgeon now lives here. The RALN – a branch of the Equal Justice Center, a self-described “non-profit organization that includes several projects supporting workplace justice for low and moderate-income working families” – says Gregory Feste, former owner of West Lake Hills’ Cheesecake Kitchen (previously Ruggles Grill), which went out of business in early October, owes 13 workers about $15,000 for labor performed between Sept. 11 and Oct. 4. The group also accuses Feste, who is outspoken about his Christian faith, of being a hypocrite.
“We are asking Mr. Feste to honor his faith and pay these workers from his personal resources,” reads an RALN press release for the Dec. 3 vigil. “The workers wish to impress upon [him] the importance of remember[ing] how his actions impact individual workers, many of whom are single parents, and are not corporations with the resources to survive a businessman failing to pay his debts.”
Feste, also the former CEO of the Austin Wranglers arena football team, could not be reached for comment.
“His contention is that he has no money,” said Carla Cheatham, the RALN’s executive director, who, along with dozens of others involved in the effort to claim the workers’ wages, talked to Feste at his West Lake Hills-area home the week before the Salvation Army vigil. “We even prayed with him there on his front porch,” Cheatham said. “Our approach is not [that he’s] bad or evil. [It’s] how can we work together to resolve this peacefully so that everyone gets what they deserve.”
Based on an Oct. 28 story by Statesman reporter Robert Elder, “Greg Feste’s telling trails of fumbles,” Feste, who has been involved in multiple failed business ventures, could be telling the truth. Ruggles Restaurant Group, which Feste established in Houston, to which the Cheesecake Kitchen belonged, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August.
Emily Timm, a community organizer with the Workers Defense Project – which is also a product of the Equal Justice Center and is working with the 13 laborers to help them claim their wages – said “it’s our understanding that all of the employees of the restaurant are owed their last two weeks’ pay.” For example, 35-year-old Jesus Martinez, one of the former Cheesecake Kitchen employees, said he started as a cook at the restaurant on Aug. 12 and that he is owed about $1,300 in pay. The Workers Defense Project hasn’t heard from Feste, said Timm, although it did recently receive a letter about the bankruptcy process from his attorney. On Dec. 21, some of the former employees filed a proof of claim in bankruptcy court to see if Ruggles Restaurant Group has any assets left, Timm said.
“If there are any assets in the liquidation, they would have a chance to receive the compensation that they’re entitled to,” she said. The Feste nonpayment case is one of several similar cases that RALN and WDP is pursuing.
This article appears in December 28 • 2007.