Prolific Pie Chain Matchbox Reaches a D.C. Wage Theft Settlement | Eater DC

"A popular wood-fired pizza chain and Maryland-based Matchbox Food Group LLC was ordered to pay $142,551 in restitution after the D.C. Attorney General found that more than 100 bussers and runners at its D.C. locations (including Matchbox and Ted’s Bulletin while under Matchbox ownership) were typically paid $1–$2 below the city's minimum wage during some pay periods from 2016 to 2018; the average restitution equates to over $1,000 per worker and payments must be made in six monthly installments beginning December 1. I report that the fast-growing chain, which got its start in Chinatown in 2003, ran into financial woes as openings were delayed and budgets were strained, saw internal founder disputes in 2017 (a lawsuit that was later dismissed), closed its original Chinatown location last spring and opened a new nearby locale in Penn Quarter, and now operates multiple D.C. sites (including locations on Capitol Hill and 14th Street NW) as it shifted to a smaller, neighborhood-focused expansion after Thompson Hospitality’s $11 million investment in 2018; there are currently about 10 D.C.-area locations and additional restaurants in Texas, Florida, and Charlottesville, Virginia." - Tierney Plumb