THE WOODLANDS, Texas – A franchise owner of a popular Mexican food chain is being accused of not paying his employees, writing them bounced checks, and abruptly shutting down two of his restaurants without notice.
These are two El Tiempo Cantinas in The Woodlands. The restaurants are not owned by Laurenzo’s Restaurant group which owns the brand, but rather a man by the name of Rigoberto Luna.
“Working for the restaurant, I enjoyed it, I liked it, the clientele was good, it was not until we had to get paid,” one former employee said.
Several former Woodlands El Tiempo Cantina restaurant employees asked not to be identified out of fears of what they said were threats from franchise owner, Rigoberto Luna.
“Yeah, after the hurricane, I guess he just decided not to open up anymore and we didn’t get a notice,” a former employee said.
Among their accusations, Luna withheld wages as well as credit card and debit card tips from dozens of employees. They say this happened at the location on Woodlands Parkway and another El Tiempo Cantina restaurant that business records show Luna owned on Six Pines Drive.
“The checks would bounce,” an employee said.
Both locations had notices on their doors saying the landlord had altered the locks because the tenant was delinquent on rent.
“I just don’t understand what happened to the money,” a former employee said.
One former employee provided what she says is a sales report showing the Woodlands Parkway location alone grossed more that $785,000 between this past January and June.
“Money always came to this business and I know how much because I have the proof,” one former employee said.
A former employee provided a picture of one of several bounced checks she says Luna issued which lists another company as the account holder.
Other employees say they were finally given checks after being forced to sign a waiver saying they wouldn’t seek further action or compensation, but then some learned through a notice from the bank that the checks were not cashable either.
“It was well over a thousand,” the former employee said.
She says she was finally able to cash her check for over a thousand but wants to put the story out there to warn others about Luna, who we want to emphasize has not been charged with crimes in connection to this situation at this time. Other employees have yet to be paid.
It seems that his employees aren’t the only ones owed. There’s another notice on The Woodlands Parkway door stating a company wants its dishwasher back.
KPRC 2 reached out to Luna multiple times over the past few weeks but have not been able to reach him.