Richard Allen, who oversaw Wise Guys Pizza, told this newspaper that the pizza chain “is no longer in existence,” and he said he will file an appeal to the decision by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis J. Adkins.
The case dates to a complaint that an employee filed anonymously with the commerce department in early 2013. Bureau officials audited the restaurant’s books in August 2013 and issued a finding against Wise Guys the following month. After no payment was made, the matter was forwarded to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which filed the lawsuit in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in February.
According to Montgomery County court records, Judge Adkins granted a motion for summary judgment in part because Allen failed to respond to the commerce department’s motion for the judgment and also failed to obtain a new attorney after his previous attorney withdrew from the case.
Allen said this week that Wise Guys Pizza had no involvement with the employees named in the commerce department complaint. Allen split with a former business partner in 2012, and the Springfield pizza shop became a Cousin Vinny’s Pizza.
Dan Tierney, spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s office, said the state’s collections and enforcement officials will attempt to collect the court judgment on behalf of the former employees.
The amount of wages and damages that the commerce department calculates is owed to employees range from $5.06 to $3,986.63, according to court documents.
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