Former employees of Chef Fanning speak out: “No one ever saw a W2”
CAMBRIDGE, Md. – The High Spot, a popular restaurant in Cambridge, closed in late February. This was just one of three restaurants owned by Chef Patrick Fanning that closed suddenly, without warning.
After doing some research, 47ABC learned that Chef Fanning had gotten into some trouble with the IRS for not paying taxes. On Tuesday, 47ABC learned more details from former employees, who claim that Chef Fanning did not give employee’s the money and benefits they deserved. Some say they discovered that there was no record that they ever worked for Fanning when they tried to file for unemployment.
Jennifer Howell, a former employee said, “Its a nightmare. I can’t get unemployment because there is no record of me.”
Former employee’s tell us, over 100 of their former co-workers didn’t receive real paychecks or their W2’s.
Emily Holiday, a former employee said, “Unfortunately, throughout the year we stopped getting actual stubs and paychecks, we started getting handwritten checks. Those handwritten checks turned into cash if you were lucky to see it.”
Now, many say they are struggling to make ends meet after Fanning closed all three of his restaurants in Cambridge.
“I used my tax return to pay my property tax. I’ve never been this late on the payment,” Howell said. “It’s just a nightmare. My kids see me stressed out every day, which is ridiculous. That shouldn’t have to be put on a 12 and 13 year old.”
Howell showed us documents proving that she worked at Chef Fanning’s restaurants, and she also showed us pay stubs which she says turned out to be fake.
Howell said, “So what they do, it was a piece of paper with our name, how much we were being paid, and we were being paid out of the drawer and we would initial it that we were paid.”
When we asked why employee’s didn’t raise concerns sooner, we were told that they did, but they said that Chef Fanning kept insisting that he would have the money.
Howell said, “You don’t want to believe the worst when someone is looking you in the eye and saying it’s going to be okay everyday.”
We still have not been able to get a hold of Chef Patrick Fanning for comment. We tried calling, emailing, even Facebook messaging, but still haven’t gotten an answer.
It seems Chef Fanning has virtually vanished, and no one we spoke to has been able to get a hold of him.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
