D.C. Attorney General Wins $1.75M Judgment Against Talea Ristorante for Wage Theft

The District of Columbia won a $1.75 million judicial judgment against Talea Ristorante and owner Hamza Hadani after prosecutors said the Cathedral Heights restaurant systematically stole employees’ wages. The Office of the Attorney General announced the judgment on February 26, 2026 and said the now-closed restaurant owes harmed workers more than $1.3 million in restitution.

The OAG filed a complaint in D.C. Superior Court alleging multiple wage-and-hour violations and said it will seek to enforce the $1.75 million judgment and collect the restitution. The enforcement action names Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb’s office as plaintiff and identifies Talea and Hadani as defendants in the Superior Court filing.

Court papers summarized by local reporting and the OAG describe pay practices that left tipped workers paid as little as $3.99 per hour, a figure the Washingtonian noted is less than half of D.C.’s tipped minimum wage of $10 per hour and far below the full minimum wage cited in reports of $17.50 per hour. The complaint alleges the restaurant failed to ensure that tips plus base pay met the full minimum, denied overtime pay, and refused required paid sick leave.

The suit also alleges retaliatory conduct by Hadani when he suspected some employees were cooperating with investigators. According to the complaint, those workers were fired and the owner then contacted their new employers in attempts to have them terminated again. Washingtonian reporting states the alleged wage theft began even before Talea’s official opening when staff were brought in for training, and that the restaurant had opened “just last June” before later closing.

OAG and Washingtonian materials describe payroll record failures that compounded the alleged theft. The complaint claims Talea failed to maintain payroll records required under D.C. law and sometimes paid employees with handwritten checks that lacked itemized statements showing hours, wages, tips, and deductions, creating an opaque system the OAG says made it easier to conceal underpayments.

The OAG materials identify Hadani as the owner of other Georgetown restaurants, Flavio and Susheria, though those businesses are not listed as defendants in the announced judgment. Local social posts have called attention to those connections, and the OAG placed the Talea case alongside recent recoveries such as nearly $200,000 from Diverse Masonry Corporation and a $3.95 million resolution with Amazon to illustrate broader enforcement activity.

The judgment sets a financial floor: $1,750,000 entered in court, with more than $1.3 million earmarked for restitution to workers, and the OAG has said it will pursue collection. The coming weeks should show whether the office will use liens, seizures, or other measures to satisfy the judgment and how Hadani’s remaining interests will fare under increased enforcement scrutiny.