Former employees at Rumor Night Club — the bumping, blue-lit dance joint on W. 6th — claim that the club’s owners neglected to compensate them for months of work and still refuse to do so. Employees walked out en masse in November, 2013, in protest. Despite repeated attempts to reclaim their wages and tips, they have yet to see a dime.
The four-man ownership team, which includes Reggie Corner, a former defensive back for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills — Maybe Pettine knows something!!! — and Reggie Burton, a Las Vegas wannabe tycoon, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
In a phone interview with Scene, one employee said that the owners’ brand of ownership consisted largely of periodic attendance, targeting attractive females and then wining and dining them in the VIP section with bottle service.
The weekend that the staff quit in November, “the owners told people that the staff had been fired for stealing,” one employee wrote in an email. This was blatantly untrue.
“Anytime the employees were asked to be paid for their time and labor it was as if it was an inconvenience for [the owners] to not only be having the conversation but also to be paying us,” the employee wrote.
A total 46 former workers have signed on to a document which requests more than $560,000 in unpaid wages and tips. They have filed a complaint with the Cleveland offices of the U.S. Department of Labor and are currently seeking legal representation.
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2014.
Recapitulate? Dictionary / new thesaurus please.
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My name is Anthony Lazzaro. I learned that Rumor Night Club employees were denied wages from this article. I am an attorney in Cleveland, Ohio who represents employees in unpaid wage cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act. To learn about your rights, call me at 216-696-5000.
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They also threw their former employee out onto the street while she was having a stroke, claiming she was f***ed up.. no class. I can’t wait until they shut down
The definition of a Las Vegas wannabe tycoon — someone who talks fast and builds Ponzi schemes even faster.
Mistreated and owed over 500k… its a bar? Tipped Workers make like 3.00 an hour right? Is the bar staff claiming they were never paid since the place opened or what? This sounds like a fired employee trying to get back a place. Wanna be tycoons? Slander lawsuits coming.. I bet.
I’ve been going to Rumor for about a year now… And I absolutely love the place the energy is great the customer service is excellent, and everybody that I bring to rumor with me and everyone I know that goes there thinks the place is amazing….
My daughter worked there. When she was given a paycheck it would bounce. Also she never received her credit card tips. She gets nothing but the run around when she attempts to get the money owed to her. Do the customers know that their credit card tips do not go to their servers?
I work there now… and have been from the beginning… Anon. We always get our tips and payouts… now a few have been late, and yes even I had a check bounce before, but the manager took care of it right away. None of us are owed or have been owed thousands of dollars. That’s a bit much. But the owners listen to us if we have issues. Its a cool place. IMO
The employee they kicked out while had a Brain Aneurysm and Stroke at Rumor Night Club, was kicked out to sit on the curb outside in the cold on thanksgiving night. Rumor stated that she was waisted. (That employee only had 2 drinks, and was at the establishment for 20 min before the medical issue occurred. Rumor refused to contact medical help to contact an ambulance!!! She was very fortunate that her friends and family acted so quickly and saved her life!!!! Many people witnessed this horrible treatment. After 3 Brain Surgeries and not being able to go back to work fulltime till May, she is doing great now!!!
I’m not even shocked by this article. I’ve had horrible service the few times I got a table there. Looks like the bad service comes from the top on down.
I used to love that place and I’m gonna miss those bartenders they used to pour heavy as heck lol I can tell they hated the owners because they were giving away all there liquor!!!
I can’t speak 4the other problems but I was there the nite the so called (former employee got thru out) she was spazzing out an no1 could tell what was wrong with her. Ppl around was saying she took some bad drugs & I seen the staff assisting her an giving her water wit my own eyes, no1 asked her 2leave nor thru her out as I could see. Friends walked her away, an some of them even came back in an kept partying!
Rumor is 1 of the best places 2go party downtown Cleveland! It’s a shame that ppl in Cleveland would hate on a new establishment that’s young, hip, an thriving, an adds a real diverse feel 2a West 6th street that’s ran down by the same Ol Act like I’m somebody important Barleyhouse Jersey Shore Rats, Ratchet Tequila Ranch, CokeHead Pill Popping Liquid/Skybar, and now condemned Ghetto Hood Rich Martini 6… I’ve done them all when I come thru Cleve an truthfully Rumor was the Best outa all them! Brought my business partners in from NY they loved the place. Just 1request 4next time I’m there to Mng please have some Capt. Morgan on deck! (Don’t let the Hate fool Ya, This place b JUMPING! Can’t wait 2go back!!!
This place is still open?
You can catch a STD in there by just breathing.
Talk about human devolution
My girlfriend used to work here and this is absolutely a true article. At first, everything was great. They made good money and we’re paid on time. After a while, they would take MONTHS to pay her. They haven’t even paid the bartenders since April of 2013. The owners would try to set up the girls with athletes that came in just so they would keep coming back. She told me that they would sell bottles to different people at discounts with no tip all the time so they were basically working for free. Things might be good now, but for the original employees, things were horrible. Collectively, the original employees are probably owed thousands and have very right to get that money back. That place is probably the most unprofessional business I have ever came in contact with. Plus it is disgusting. Ever went in the bathrooms? Or checked your ice? You’ll probably find bugs in your ice or throw up on the floor around you.
This article is pretty much the truth. The only staff to be paid consistently where the ones having relations with the owners. The place looks cool and fun on the outside but no one knows what really goes on..
Owners who are married by the way…
To anon posted at 12:33 that is exactly right. That is exactly what happened. It is the most unprofessional business I have ever seen. How do you get away with bouncing everyone’s pay checks? Could the author of this article get Carl Monday to investigate?
Dear Polished,
You are what’s wrong with this city, and you are clearly affiliated with that piece of crap bar Rumor. You can knock on all of the other established bars as much as you want.. your Rumor is still going to close before them. Your true colors shine brightly in your comments. It’s not much longer until this sh*thole closes down, for the good of the city. Bad owners, bad ideas, and bad management. I feel so sorry for the staff and recommend everybody to stay away!
In the beginning we were all getting paid on time. But then they were supposed to pay us our credit card tips every Thursday that turned into us being owed money every single shift we worked and then it was like we were bothering them . Literally we would have to harass them to give us our money. All of the owners give everything away for free so half the time you work its for free. If your not sleeping with the owners your not going to be on the schedule and they are married! When you think your buying a brand new bottle ..think again..they run out of things and just poor liquor into the old bottle and sell it to you like its new. The bathroom ceiling is constantly leaking and the ceiling above downstairs bar leaks right into the ice and maybe even your drink if your sitting down there. Rumor is beyond unprofessional and they treat there employee’s like crap but again if you sleep with them you will get whatever you want!
I am very close to a former employee and every bit of this story is true! I hope everyone gets the money they earned
From all the words of former employees and friends of them, it sounds like a form of ‘human trafficking.’
Any journalist knows that a no comment and/or numerous messages that are not returned speaks loud enough…real loud. And as plenty of corrupt county politicians learned the hard way….once the Feds seriously place the proper resources to start digging around, there will be a very unpleasant result. The last time I checked, the U.S. Department of Labor is a federal agency.
Rumor is a Shit hole
I worked there and this story is a bunch of nonsense. I have worked in 4 other bars on West 6th and Rumor is by far the best of all of them. I have been paid late by every single bar I have ever worked for at times, but just like in Rumor, I got my money. Not to mention the fact that the owners of the place are hardly there. The bad seed was the old GM, the guy they fired, who used to work at Christies. He was the one who was unorganized and never met us on time, or would’nt pay the busboys. I heard the owners upset with him all the time, asking, why he had not paid someone. They all hated him. And so did we! And the way he used to look at the girls there. The owners are getting a bad wrap here. But they are easy targets. But again, in court people can’t lie. So just watch what happens when people have to start telling the truth about really being paid. If they lie on the stand then, or even in the document, they will go to jail. Which is the exact reason, why I did’nt sign it. Most of us, if not all of us have been paid. The problem was that the hours where off, and the clock in/out system never tracked things right in most cases. But overall the numbers in this article is way off. That place never even had 50 workers in it to sign this petition. And No way people are owed 560,000… that does’nt even make sense. I feel for the people who lied. But honesty is the best policy lol…
The hours were not off and the workers are not telling lies. They would still be working there if they had been paid. The owners are the ones that lie.
The bartenders were all old people and very anti social… and the servers were fat old dancers… lol. Its a lot better in there now.
Looks like that advertising material in the comments section actually worked!
I HAVE ONE QUESTION … WHY DO U CONTINUE TO GO???
Poor management terrible staff. Every dog will have their day. The truth will come out and the losers will pay.