In a joint effort with campus advocacy groups such as Hoyas for Immigrant Rights and the Georgetown University Student Association, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee presented a letter and petition to Mr. Chang Wook Chon, the owner of Epicurean Restaurant. The petition and letter, which received over 500 student signatures, urge Epicurean management to end mistreatment of immigrant workers and publicly reaffirm its commitment to the Just Employment Policy.
This petition and letter have come in the aftermath of years of employee abuse in Epicurean. In 2010, two employees filed lawsuits against the company for failing to pay overtime wages, but they dropped the charges following threats of unemployment and deportation. Last fall the cases were reopened as a class action suit for wage theft and separate criminal charges for the threats from Chon made against his workers in 2010. Ultimately, the settlement ordered Chon to pay the workers overtime wages and damages dating all the way back to 2007 in the amount of $14,450.
Despite this ongoing lawsuit, Chon insists that he upholds Georgetown’s Just Employment Policy. Clearly this is not the case. Chon’s continual abuse of his employees does not comply with the standards mandated by the Just Employment policy, and student activism on this issue is long overdue. If Chon wants to prove to students that Epicurean will no longer violate the rights of its workers, he should comply with the demands of the petition and publicly reaffirm his commitment to the Just Employment Policy.
Additionally, the petition asks for Chon to fully cooperate with the University’s attempts to enforce the Just Employment Policy. Even though it is important as a business that operates on University grounds that Epicurean commit to following the Just Employment Policy, even an active partnership with Georgetown will not create the accountability workers deserve.
Throughout last year’s legal proceeding, the University failed to launch an investigation into Epicurean’s violations of the Just Employment Policy nor did it publicly consider any punitive actions against the management of Epicurean.
The petition and letter are signs of progress in holding the University, Epicurean, and all other on-campus dining services accountable for giving workers the rights they deserve. The University’s inaction shows that much work remains in enforcement of the Just Employment Policy, and this petition and letter prove that it remains up to students to keep both campus dining services and the University up to par.
