Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole has finally reached a settlement in a lawsuit with former employees at her Brooklyn location.
Three former Slutty Vegan Brooklyn staffers were awarded a lump sum of $10,000 under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 11 Alive reports. The settlement covers “reasonable attorney’s fees, cost and expenses” in a lawsuit over unpaid wages and bonuses.
The lawsuit was filed by two former managers of the Brooklyn location. One who allegedly never received a quarterly bonus of $7,000 along with overtime rates for working over 40 hours per week while performing work outside of his managerial position.
Another assistant general manager claims to have not been paid a $4,000 quarterly bonus along with overtime pay for performing extra work outside of her responsibilities. The store’s certified trainer also says he wasn’t paid for his overtime work and his pay was “repeatedly miscalculated.”
This is the first reached settlement in two lawsuits against the Atlanta-based vegan restaurant. Last month, a former Bar Vegan employee filed a lawsuit against Slutty Vegan ATL LLC that the company has requested a second extension amid “meaningful settlement discussions.”
In January, Cole slammed the lawsuits claiming to run her chain of vegan eateries with “integrity” and “[doesn’t] play with people’s money.”
“Since I was a kid, I have only operated with integrity. I don’t lie, I don’t steal and more importantly, I DON’T PLAY WITH PEOPLE’S MONEY,” Cole wrote on Instagram at the time.
“Maybe it’s the Caribbean in me, but God won’t bless you when you operate in fraudulent spirit. This week, I was named in a lawsuit for one of my companies, Bar Vegan, alongside my partners, over alleged unpaid wages from one employee. Again, ALLEGED.”
Cole founded Slutty Vegan in August 2018 in response to finding no place available to eat vegan food after 9 p.m. As of April 2023, the chain has five locations in the Metro Atlanta area along with the plant-based Bar Vegan.
Other recently opened locations include Athens and Columbus, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama, and Brooklyn and Harlem in New York City. The eatery continues to grow
rapidly with new locations springing up across the country and throughout Georgia. So far, there are 13 locations in total.RELATED CONTENT: Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole Cries Over Making ‘Time100 Next‘