In 2019, law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers lodged a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman on behalf of hospitality union Hospo Voice, accusing high-end restaurant chain Rockpool of “egregious” wage theft.
The complaint accused Rockpool of tampering timesheets and using fraud to deny workers overtime entitlements estimated to be worth at least $10 million:
Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Josh Bornstein labelled Rockpool’s alleged wage theft as “the most egregious in Australian history”. “Based on information provided, Rockpool has been caught falsifying the time sheet records of staff in order to cheat them out of their wages,” Mr Bornstein said in a statement. “The falsification of timesheets disproves the employer narrative of complex awards and honest mistakes and shows the underpaying for what they really are, a deliberate effort to cheat workers out of their minimum legal entitlements.”
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