Georgia Sheriff Says IHOP Has ‘Lost Its Ever-Loving Mind’ For Not Paying Its Employees

Coleman said during his lunch additional workers came forward with similar claims.

An IHOP restaurant in Chatham County is being put on blast after multiple employees told a local sheriff they had not been paid for over 80 hours of work.

The situation unfolded when Sheriff Richard Coleman was dining at the IHOP on Gateway Boulevard and was approached by a server who appeared distressed. Coleman said the employee told him she had not been paid for more than 80 hours of work. Coleman recounted the event on the Chatham County Sheriff’s Facebook page.

After speaking with the initial employee, Coleman said additional workers came forward with similar claims. Employees told him they were owed wages for weeks. Then complaints disturbed him; in an act of compassion, he confronted the franchise owner about the allegations. The encounter occurred while he was at the restaurant for lunch. He said the interaction with employees was unexpected and concerning.

“To sit here and labor people day after day and week after week and not receive a paycheck. You’ve lost your ever-loving mind,” Coleman said.

According to reports by WJCL, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation following the visit. Apparently, the restaurant was operating with an expired business license at the time of his visit, in addition to the wage complaints raised by workers.

When questioned by WJCL, the restaurant’s manager denied wrongdoing and disputed the claims, telling the station that employees were being paid.

In the Facebook Live video, Coleman asserted that he was the “wrong person on the wrong day” to hear the complaints. With attention now on the labor and compensation dispute, it seems like the inverse for employees, at least. The sheriff was the right person to bring light to the alleged injustice.

No criminal charges were announced at the time of the reports. Authorities did not indicate how long the investigation would take or whether regulatory action would follow.