nothin G-Heav Arrests Prompt Warning To Employers | New Haven Independent

G‑Heav Arrests Prompt Warning To Employers

Nick Defiesta Photo

Julio Oliver (left), a former Gourmet Heaven employee, called for fairness, not a store closing.

Police, lawmakers and the state labor department delivered a simple message to city businesses Wednesday afternoon: Play fair, or pay the price.

That message was delivered at police headquarters during a press conference discussing two arrests of Chung Cho, the owner of Gourmet Heaven. Arrested last Thursday and again on Monday, Cho faces a number of charges including failure to pay wages, failure to pay overtime, exploitation of immigrant labor and larceny. He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.

Board of Alders President Jorge Perez stressed that most businesses do the right thing” and pay their workers fair wages — and issued a warning to owners like Cho who allegedly don’t.

If you don’t [pay fair wages], and mediation doesn’t work, and the threat of the labor department doesn’t work, then we’re gonna hold more press conferences like this one,” said Perez (pictured at the press conference with Police Chief Dean Esserman). If you force us, we’re gonna enforce the law.”

Employee complaints typically don’t require this level of response from authorities, explained Blair Bertaccini, wage enforcement agent for the Connecticut Department of Labor, who investigated Cho’s case. He called situation Gourmet Heaven a very egregious case; he said Cho’s behavior during and subsequent to the investigation necessitated a heightened response from the state.

Complaints about wage theft can usually be resolved through mediation or negotiation with community groups like Unidad Latina en Acción, explained Assistant Police Chief Archie Generoso, who headed the police investigation into the case. But he echoed Perez: if a law-breaking business doesn’t come into compliance, the police department will do everything in its power to… see that these people are brought to justice.”

Also present at the press conference was Julio Olivar, who endured what he called seven years of abuse” at Gourmet Heaven. He said he didn’t want to see the business where he used to work — and where many of his friends are still employed — shut its doors.

Instead, he hopes for fairness.

I don’t think it’s fair that people like Mr. Cho treat their workers bad and they make money, and there are better businesses that treat their workers better and pay them better and still struggle,” Oliver said. All I wish is better treatment not just for Gourmet Heaven workers but for all the workers in New Haven.”

Cho could not be reached for comment.

His landlord, Yale University Properties, issued the following statement through spokesman Tom Conroy:

University Properties strongly condemns any behavior contrary to labor laws or involving mistreatment of employees. Gourmet Heaven has a legal right to be in the space until its lease expires in about two years.”

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