Rockpool Dining Group, Neil Perry’s high-end restaurant business, is being sued for the mistreatment and underpaying of a migrant chef. Not only this, but Australia’s largest restaurant business may be facing up to AU$10 million in repayments following an investigation spanning five years of their recent history.
This investigation and claim come just days after Masterchef’s George Calombaris was ordered to pay staff millions for their mistreatment and underpaying.
Rockpool’s investigation comes after Rohit Karki, was systematically paid less than AU$12 an hour after accumulating up to 40 hours a week in unpaid overtime. Karki’s claims alone cover more than six years of unfair treatment and represents the highest-profile legal action taken against Rockpool to date. Just last October, Rockpool was made to pay AU$1.6 million for a single year of underpayment. Although this is a step in the right direction for people who had been overworked and treated unfairly, many of the victims believe that they are owed more.
