What a nightmare: After Sarma Melngailis, the owner of Pure Food & Wine and One Lucky Duck, vanished yet again without paying her employees, they’ve made good on their word to sue. Sixty workers are demanding back wages for 60 days, as well as $500 per day in penalties. Adding to her many, many missteps, it was illegal for Melngailis to not warn her staffers about mass layoffs.
Melngailis is also facing lawsuits from vendors and the Asparagus Trading Corporation — an investor who was set to provide her with the “fresh start” she described to Grub. The company fronted $31,000 for her July rent, but is now claiming she “siphoned off money.” To make matters worse, Melngailis is also being evicted from her apartment. If she ever resurfaces, she could end up jailed because of this disaster.
