Natick & Wellesley Pizza Shop Whacked With $300,000 Fine

WELLESLEY, MA — The owner of the Pizza Peddler restaurants in Natick and Wellesley has been ordered to pay more than $300,000 in back wages and liquidated damages after a summary judgment was obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor in federal court Monday.

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigated the restaurant and its owner Petro Belezos, after learning about rumored pay violations from July 2016-August 2018.

Investigators found no overtime pay was given to employees at either of the two restaurants, and management also failed to keep records of hours worked daily for at least one employee, according to a press release.

In the press release, investigators also determined an employee who worked 60-hour weeks regularly as a store manager during the two-year period had never been compensated at all.

The summary judgment requires Belezos to pay $153,852 in back wages and another $153,852 to 14 employees due to his "willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act."

The judgment ordered Belezos to pay the employee who was never paid retroactively, and Belezos offered compensation in the form of a partnership interest valued at $30,800. However, court documents show Belezos failed to provide any proof of this deal.

In total, after the calculation of wages owed to the 14 employees in question, and the compensation of liquidated damages mixed in with the Massachusetts minimum wage payment during the two-year stretch, Belezos owed $307,704.86.

Belezos says he plans to meet with opposing lawyers to discuss payment and comply with the order.

"[Belezos] has been in a family-run business for 28 years — one with happy employees," Belezos' attorney, Steven David, told the Daily News. "Sometimes people are not aware of the law and mistakes are made, so we're going to work with the Department of Labor and get the matter resolved."