Rick Ross is addressing the Department of Labor recently fining his family's Wingstop locations in Mississippi.
On Wednesday (Aug. 17), Rick Ross hopped on his Instagram Story to issue a statement after news recently broke that five Wingstop locations in Mississippi franchised by his Boss Wing Enterprises had been fined over $100,000 for violations involving over 200 employees. In the video, Ross is sitting behind a piano in reflection mode.
"When you’re running a business, there will be mistakes," Rick Ross says in the video. "But as the biggest boss, you never make the same mistake twice. You see, accountability. Taking accountability is big when you the biggest. And remember this, most successful people don’t take stumbling as a set back, but actually a stepping stone to greater things you heard me? Let’s be great. A toast to the hustlers."
On Aug. 11, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOLWHD) announced it had collected $114,427 "in back wages, liquidated damages and civil penalties" from five Wingstop locations owned by Rick Ross, his sister Tawanda Roberts and mother Tommie Roberts.
The violations involved 244 employees and include illegally forcing employees to pay for background checks, cash register shortages, safety training and uniforms. These infractions caused some employees’ average hourly rates to fall below the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
The investigation also discovered Boss Wings allowed a 15-year-old employee to work past 10 p.m. on multiple occasions in June 2021. Law prohibits workers under 16 from working past 7 p.m.
"Restaurant industry employees work hard, often for low wages, and many depend on every dollar earned to make ends meet," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. "The law prevents Boss Wing Enterprises LLC from shifting operating costs to workers by deducting the costs of uniforms, cash register shortages or training expenses, or to allow a worker’s pay to fall below the minimum wage rate."
Rick Ross owns over two-dozen Wingstop franchises throughout the U.S.