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Upper Crust Pizzeria is a Boston, Massachusetts based chain of pizzeria restaurants. The chain went bankrupt following a finding by the U.S. Department of Labor that it had engaged in wage theft (not paying workers their legally required wages).〔http://www.boston.com/business/news/2012/11/07/upper-crust-pizza-chain-owes-workers-federal-labor-agency-says/acPJll7QPberqAZawKaQhI/story.html〕 Founded by Jordan Tobins,〔(The Pie Guy ), ''The Boston Globe'', May 17, 2009〕 the first location opened in Beacon Hill in 2001.〔Kuehnlenz, Sri. (The Upper Crust is Above the Competition ), ''The Brandeis Hoot'', August 31, 2007〕〔(Welch's `Winning' play helps Upper Crust rise ), ''Boston Herald'', February 2, 2006〕 It won local accolades such as "Best Gourmet Pizza" (''Boston'' magazine) and "Boston's Best Pizza" (''The Improper Bostonian'').〔(Crust above the rest ), ''The Daily News Tribune'', July 13, 2007〕 By May 2009, the chain had grown to 14 locations,〔 and 17 by July 2010.〔 In April 2011 the Upper Crust opened its 21st location, and its first outside of New England, in Washington, D.C. and announced plans to open 10 additional restaurants in the DC area over the next five years.〔 The chain subsequently declared bankruptcy in 2012〔 amid allegations that Tobins violated labor laws and raided the company's cash for his own expenses, a claim he has denied.〔(), "The Boston Globe", June 13, 2012〕 ==Department of Labor findings and subsequent lawsuits and investigations== A United States Department of Labor investigation of the company's pay practices from April 2007 through April 2009 revealed that Upper Crust’s hourly workers were paid straight time even after they exceeded 40 hours in a week. The company was ordered to pay more than US$341,000 in back wages to about 121 workers for uncompensated overtime. The Labor Department began a new investigation of the company in 2010.〔 On July 16, 2010, a lawsuit was filed against the company by two former employees, claiming that the Upper Crust had forced employees to give back thousands of these dollars.〔 The lawsuit claims that Upper Crust made illegal deductions from the plaintiff's wages, paid below the legal minimum wage, and retaliated against those who complained.〔 Tobins described the plaintiffs as "disgruntled ex-employees... trying to figure out a way to extort money from our business",〔 but in 2012 the company's former chief financial officer swore an affidavit saying that the Upper Crust had devised a scheme to wrest the money back which included the cashing of forged checks. On December 20, 2010 a former operations manager at Upper Crust filed a lawsuit that accuses the Boston pizza chain of retaliating against him after he reported the company to the US Department of Labor for allegedly violating wage and hour laws. In 2011, ''The Boston Globe'' reported that several former employees have claimed that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is investigating the company's alleged hiring of illegal immigrants and other labor violations.〔 Labor and student groups including Massachusetts Jobs with Justice have organized boycotts and protest over the company's labor practices.〔 The company has characterized the boycotts as misguided. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Upper Crust Pizzeria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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