Local Beef-A-Roo employees still owed paychecks as private equity CEO ditches court hearing
SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- The Beef-A-Roo CEO was a no-show in court Monday, as his former workers in Warsaw say they are still missing paychecks after the sudden closure of the fast-food restaurant.
Jeff Love and his companies, Beef-A-Roo and Elysian Capital were summoned to Saint Joseph County Court Monday morning; it was chosen as neutral ground for a hearing involving a lawsuit by a Beef-A-Roo landlord in Rockford, Illinois, who says Love owes him over $600,000.
But Love failed to appear, along with counsel.
It comes as local workers are still wondering where their missing money is.
Former employees confirm with ABC57 Monday they are now going on more than two months without their earned pay from Beef-A-Roo, and both locations in Warsaw remain closed after a company-wide layoff.
Since being told on July 7th that the company is actively working to secure the funds to pay employees, they say there have been no further updates.
Though, there have been updates with Beef-A-Roo's parent company, Elysian Capital.
Though it hasn't filed for bankruptcy, ABC57 has confirmed the company has ceased operations at other businesses across the country: the Total Point Urgent Care chain which had locations in Missouri and Texas, as well as a wellness spa in Arizona.
A "Contact Us" page on the total point urgent care website includes a dummy phone number: 800-123-4567.
Elysian Capital appears to have taken down its website at some point in the past couple of weeks.
Former staff at Elysian businesses across at least five states tell ABC57 they're still in the dark.
According to Indiana's online court record website, MyCase, it appears landlords of standalone Beef-A-Roo locations are also suing Jeff Love.
At the end of last week, two new suits were filed and one of them is the Center Street location in Warsaw.
In Monday morning's court hearing, the plaintiff, Greschler Rockford LLC, said they would like to go through with contempt proceedings.