LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Workers at a Lee’s Summit IHOP claim they haven’t been paid in over a month.

“I don’t know how to explain to a nine-year-old that I work at a job, but I’m not getting paid,” Chelsea Stoker shared with affiliate WDAF.

“I want to give them what they want, but I can’t because I don’t have money to do so.”

Stoker is one of two dozen who work at the café located off 291 Highway.

“No one in the building is getting paid. The cooks. The managers, nobody,” server, Linda, said.

“We haven’t been paid, and we are on our 6th week with no pay now.”
The shop is also without working air conditioning, workers say.

“The two people that run this restaurant, it’s not on them whatsoever. It’s above them. They can’t get answers either,” Linda added.
“It’s hotter than hell in there,” Linda Turney, a customer Thursday shared with WDAF. “They are all working hard. They deserve the money. I hope they get it.”

Fred Kelly, another customer eating at the restaurant, said, “It’s definitely a lot warmer in there than it used to be.”
Workers say they’ve taken their wage concerns to the Department of Labor.
“We just keep showing up, praying it’s going to change, and praying that we are going to have air conditioning. We all like working with each other, kind of family-oriented, you know?” Linda added.

Linda also believes it’s not just her shop, but all shops this person(s) own in the Metro, who are experiencing the same issue.

Business records show, this particular IHOP, and others in the metro, are associated with several names, including “IHOP Restaurants LLC”.

Linda says cash tips can be taken home, but it’s the hourly wages, many are still waiting on.

WDAF reached out to several contacts who appear to be associated with this business, but did not receive a response to the inquiry at the time of publishing.

IHOP’s corporate team shared with WDAF, “We have passed this along to the owner and operator of this restaurant.”