Swahili Village, a Kenyan-owned American restaurant, has been ordered to pay $526,973 to resolve a 2023 wage theft lawsuit. Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced on Tuesday that the Kenyan fine-dining establishment, dubbed “the Consulate” due to its proximity to Embassy Row, had agreed to the settlement.
This settlement marks the largest against a restaurant since the D.C. Council granted the attorney general’s office authority to pursue wage theft cases in 2017, according to spokeswoman Marrisa Geller.
The case alleged that Swahili Village underpaid its employees, including paying as little as $5 per hour (including tips). Additionally, the restaurant is said to have “systematically stolen wages and tips from its servers, hosts, food runners, bussers, and bartenders.”
The D.C. attorney general also claimed that the restaurant had violated several labour laws, including failing to provide overtime pay, failing to maintain required employment records, and neglecting to offer mandated sick leave to workers, many of whom were people of colour and young African immigrants.
“It is unacceptable, and illegal, for businesses to steal from their hardworking employees, depriving them of the full benefits they have earned and are legally entitled to. Employers that do so are not only exploiting their workers but are gaining an unfair advantage over their competitors who play by the rules,” said Attorney General Brian Schwalb. “This is a significant win for dozens of Swahili Village workers who were mistreated and continues our office’s commitment to combatting wage theft in the District of Columbia.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Swahili Village M Street LLC and its principals, Kevin Onyona and Emad Shoeb, must compensate 72 workers approximately $260,000 in restitution.
Additionally, the settlement includes more than $197,600 in penalties to the District and over $69,000 to fund a claims administrator tasked with distributing owed funds to eligible workers. The settlement now awaits court approval.
Schwalb emphasized that the violations at Swahili Village were not isolated incidents but rather a systemic issue. He alleged that the restaurant’s practices were deliberate, constituting a pattern of wage theft and worker mistreatment.
“These egregious and systemic violations, which persisted for years, reveal that wage theft and worker abuse were no accident at Swahili Village DC — they were part of the business plan,” AG Schwalb alleged in the suit.
Rowles Adams, a former Swahili Village employee, detailed his experience at the fine dining establishment. He was hired as a bartender and worked there for about a year and a half.
During that time, he said he was paid the tipped minimum wage, plus tips, but never received a payroll or direct deposit check. The situation was even worse for some of his co-workers, who he says were not being paid at all.
“For months, I saw managers mistreat my coworkers, including many young immigrants who did not even realize that what was happening was wrong,” Adams said.
“I spoke out, but it didn’t change things. I’m so grateful that the lawyers from the attorney general’s office heard our plea for help and stood with us to get justice. I hope this case sheds light on the recurring issue of wage theft, especially in the restaurant industry, where tipped employees work twice as hard to survive and earn a living wage,” he added.
Despite the settlement, Swahili Village, Onyona, and Shoeb admitted no wrongdoing or liability as part of the agreement.
Graham Lake, chief of the Workers’ Rights and Antifraud Section at the attorney general’s office, hailed the settlement as a vindication of worker rights and fair business practices. He stressed the importance of enforcing labour laws to ensure equitable treatment of workers across all businesses.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Onyona expressed his desire to get the case “off his back.” He disclosed that he would have to borrow money for the settlement and let go of at least 20 employees, about half of his staff. “I have to make some hard decisions now,” Onyona said. “It’s not really looking very good for me. I can tell you that.”
Swahili Village originally gained acclaim for its casual dining experience in Beltsville, Maryland, before expanding to a fine-dining location on M Street NW in Washington, D.C., in early 2020. Despite a grand opening attended by then-Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the restaurant faced immediate challenges with the onset of the pandemic, which severely impacted its operations.
The restaurant offers Kenyan staples like goat stew and nyama choma and has gained praise from Kenyans and Africans abroad.
