“…The U.S. Department of Labor says the Cavalier Hotel and Crab Shack on Ocean Drive owes its employees $160,000 and that owner Ralph Abravaya skirted taxes by paying his employees in tips and refusing them overtime pay…”
“…Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, says a two-year investigation revealed Abravaya had dodged taxes by paying employees entirely in cash. He also underpaid them by denying them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per week..”
An art deco hotel on South Beach is locked in a battle with the federal government over the kind of accusations that have gotten the 99 percent so riled up recently.
 “Yeah we screwed up,” Abravaya admits to Riptide. “Alright, so slap me in the hand. But don’t tell me you are going to destroy the business or fine me $300,000. If Abravaya loses in court, he will have to pay a total of $320,000 in fines and unpaid wages, plus court costs.
The hotelier admits that a manager did falsify records in an attempt to escape investigation. But Abravaya says he fired the employee as soon as he learned of the deception. He insists that when he took over the hotel and restaurant in 2009, he simply continued the policy set by the previous owner and paid the employees $6 an hour plus their tips — more than they were owed by law.
For more:Â http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/03/cavalier_hotel_and_crab_shack.php
