Unpaid Checkers workers in Sanford learn via text that restaurant closed

SANFORD, Fla. — Twenty Checkers employees in Sanford don’t know when they’ll get paid after some of them received a text from their boss saying the restaurant had closed.

The corporate office also said it’s looking for the franchise owner, because they said they had no warning he was shutting down the restaurant.

The employees said they were supposed to get paid Thursday and they thought the text was a prank at first.

“Me and my fellow employees waited out here for six hours, waiting for answers and the (general manager) didn’t know anything,” Willie Brown said.

Throughout the day, a number of cars passed through the pickup window of the closed business.

“I said, ‘What about the checks?’ Nobody is getting paid...and I started calling Channel 9,” said employee Blanca Cartagena.

Channel 9 took the employees' concerns to Checkers’ corporate office.

They released a statement that said, “We are working quickly to contact each team member to get them assistance through CARE, our employee relief fund. At the same time, we are also working with the franchisee to honor his commitments."

Checkers corporate office was able to contact the general manager for all the information needed to provide employees with the necessary funds.

WFTV