CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio televangelist and his restaurant have been ordered to pay over $388,000 to a group of employees after a judge found that members of his church were urged to volunteer at the buffet and it used the unpaid workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor sued Ernest Angley and his Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) Falls restaurant alleging labor-law violations after reporting by the Akron Beacon Journal first detailed the allegations. The department said an investigation found 239 employees at the buffet were owed a total of $207,000.
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Angley and the restaurant to pay more than that in back wages and damages.
Angley has maintained that buffet operators did nothing wrong. His attorney, Lawrence Bach, tells Cleveland.com that Angley and the restaurant might appeal the judge’s decision.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.