Beef-A-Roo locations in Warsaw temporarily close after payroll problems, employees missing multiple paychecks

WARSAW, Ind. -- Employees at a fast-food restaurant in Warsaw say they haven't been paid in weeks.

Both Beef-A-Roo locations in Warsaw have temporarily closed, including the new location on Center Street that just opened in May, following corporate payroll problems leaving several workers without pay.

Not only are employees left to abruptly find new work, but now they're out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

At this point, they tell ABC57 they don't think they'll ever see the money they're owed.

Misty Kern and Tayber Sobieck wanted to believe it was just growing pains, at first.

After beginning work at the newly opened Beef-A-Roo location on Center Street, they say their first few paychecks were late.

But then, they stopped seeing them at all.

Now, it's been a month since both Kern and Sobieck have received a paycheck.

"We thought it was a glitch and gave faith to the business, but then second week, we were like 'No way,'" says Misty Kern, a former manager at Beef-A-Roo.

Employees were sent a letter dated June 25th, which says the company responsible for funding payroll has not kept up its end of the deal and would not be providing payroll despite repeated assurances it would.

Beef-A-Roo corporate said it would be seeking alternative funding, but in the meantime, it was implementing what's called a 'Daily Pay Process' effective June 26th to pay workers daily.

But employees say this did not happen.

"So, they'd take it out of the register in cash, hand you cash for when you worked, and then they just said it would be too much of a hassle and that they didn't want to, basically," explains Olivia Harvey, a former Beef-A-Roo shift lead.

Then, they received a letter late last week saying all Beef-A-Roo locations would be temporarily closed until payroll problems have been corrected.

The restaurants and its employees are left in the dark.

"We've been told story after story, or sketch after sketch to tell the employees, and but nobody wants to answer phone calls, nobody wants to say what is really going on at this time," Kern says.

Employees say it hasn't been easy to be left without pay.

"We've got people getting evicted, we got people having to go to food banks, we've got people losing relationships," Kern explains.

"We get to the point where we can barely pay for groceries," says Tayber Sobieck, another former Beef-A-Roo employee.

"I mean I just bought a house," Harvey says. "So, I have a lot of new fees with that, and I don't see a paycheck for you know, two weeks. Now what?"

The team is sticking together and is seeking counsel with vendors who are also owed by the company.

They say they won't stop until they get what they're owed.

"All we're asking for is our money," Kern says. "We worked for it, we're not asking for a loan, we're not asking for handouts, we're asking for our money."

In that same letter notifying employees of the initial payroll problems, Beef-A-Roo announced it would be under new ownership; it was sold to Hungry Investments Incorporated, a Texas-based company formed by a group of employee owners.

ABC57 was able to track executives at the former owner, Elysian Capital, to executives at the company US Assets, also based in Texas.

That latter company is the firm that bought and ultimately closed Penguin Point, which also had several locations, including at the current Beef-A-Roo building on Center Street.

ABC57 was also able to track at least one executive at US Assets who's connected to Hungry Investments.