A downtown Bangor restaurant owner owes workers tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages, according to several former employees.
Former employees of Salt North Tap Room said owner Dane Morgan frequently shorted them on wages and delayed their paychecks for weeks on end.
“This is not right, what he’s doing to people,” former head chef Johnathan Williams said.
The allegations against Morgan come less than a year after Salt North opened and weeks after it was temporarily closed by the state for failing a health inspection. The Bangor Daily News interviewed several former employees and reviewed text messages, financial records and legal documents that seemingly show a history of the restaurant owner failing to properly pay his workers.
The restaurant opened in June at 16 Union St., where Carolina’s Sports and Spirits used to operate, billing itself as a hip nightlife spot and Caribbean fusion eatery with live music and DJs.
Williams started working at Salt North in May and was told he would be paid weekly on Fridays, he told the BDN. Paychecks reviewed by the BDN indicate he was being paid in $1,923 installments that month.
He was also told he would be a salaried employee because Morgan said he “cannot pay overtime,” according to Williams.
Williams stopped getting his paychecks on time in June and started being paid on Mondays, he said.
The amounts of his paychecks started to vary. Bank records shared with the BDN show some of Williams’ paychecks were less than $800. Morgan would sometimes send Williams parts of his earnings via Apple Pay, according to text messages reviewed by the BDN. He didn’t receive pay stubs, so he isn’t sure if taxes were taken out of his pay, Williams said.
In total, Williams believes he’s owed nearly $50,000 in unpaid wages.
When asked about the accusation of missed and irregular paychecks, Morgan told the BDN it was “a private employment matter that’s currently being handled through counsel” and declined to share any additional comments.
Multiple other former Salt North employees told the BDN they were paid on an irregular schedule or missing some of their wages.
“We always had to wait. It wasn’t pay checks. We were paid with Cash App and stuff like that,” former General Manager Richard Sanders said.
Maine law requires employers to pay their staff in full at regular intervals of 16 days or less on an established pay day. That interval can’t be extended without 30 days’ written notice to the employee, the law states.
Sanders believes he was fired unfairly after being accused of stealing money, which he denies. On Nov. 4, the day he was fired, Morgan made Sanders sign a non-disclosure agreement to get the wages he was owed, Sanders said.
Former dishwasher George James also said he often had to wait two or three weeks to get paid — and the wages he received were significantly less than they should’ve been.
James was supposed to be paid weekly at $18 per hour and worked about 70 hours per week since before Salt North opened, he told the BDN. But he said he was only paid for 40 hours of work each week because Morgan “said he doesn’t do overtime.”
Employees in Maine must be paid time and a half for hours worked beyond 40 in a week, according to the state’s minimum wage law.
“For somebody to do that to you when you got your own bills to pay, they really don’t care about you. I can’t work for a person like that,” said James, who quit in the fall and isn’t sure how much money he’s owed in overtime pay.
Williams, the head chef, had also been with the restaurant from the beginning and estimated he was working about 90 hours per week.
In early December, Williams tried to deposit a paycheck that his bank put on hold because there weren’t enough funds in the account it was coming from, according to records Williams shared with the BDN.
He told Morgan he wouldn’t return to work until he was paid. “I do not work for free,” he said in text messages reviewed by the BDN.
Later that month, Williams confronted Morgan about another late paycheck. Morgan replied, “Pay will be received for everyone no later than Monday. I am awaiting a loan that should be in my account by Monday.”
By January, Williams had had enough.
He quit and asked Morgan for his last two weeks’ pay. Morgan sent him about $1,000 via Apple Pay, saying he calculated that amount based on 46 hours worked in the two-week period — a figure Williams disputed. Morgan switched Williams from a salaried to hourly employee in December without providing any advance notice, according to Williams.
Morgan also tried to get him to sign a non-disclosure agreement, Williams said.
Williams’ lawyer sent a letter to Morgan Jan. 20 demanding that he send a copy of Williams’ employment records, including pay stubs, and pay back all unpaid wages. Morgan did not reply by the 10-day deadline, according to Williams.
Per Maine law, employers found to have committed wage theft must pay back those wages and also pay the affected employees for damages in the amount of double whatever wages are owed. The state’s labor commissioner also has the power to shut down a business that has been found to have committed wage theft.
At least four Salt North employees have quit over late and unpaid wages, according to Williams.
The restaurant denied Williams’ allegations in a Jan. 12 Facebook post after the former chef took to the platform to share his experience.
“We’re aware of a recent social media post referencing Salt North TapRoom. We dispute the claims being made and are addressing all employment-related matters through the appropriate private and legal channels,” it stated in the post.
The allegations against Morgan come weeks after the restaurant was temporarily closed over food safety violations.
The restaurant failed a state health inspection Nov. 18. The inspection report obtained by the BDN indicates the restaurant lacked clean food-contact surfaces and kitchen utensils, proper reheating and food temperature procedures, and date marking on food. The inspector also observed rat droppings in a store room and in the basement.
The state issued an imminent health hazard and shut the restaurant down until it was cleared Nov. 25 to reopen, according to Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lindsay Hammes.
Salt North passed a follow-up inspection Jan. 15, although it was still cited for several violations, including improper food temperature procedures.
Prior to opening Salt North, Morgan was a DJ and activist who helped organize some Black Lives Matter protests in the Lewiston-Auburn area in 2020. He has also worked in real estate, although his license is not currently active, according to state records.
A 2021 Lewiston City Council run was marred by criminal charges when Morgan was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend around that time, the Sun Journal reported.
His domestic assault charges were dropped the following year as part of a deal where he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and violating bail conditions, and he was required to complete a domestic violence intervention program. Morgan called the assault charges “phony” at the time.
He was sued last year by Samantha Bragdon, who said in 2022 she loaned Morgan thousands of dollars to help with his real estate license renewal and various bills and to bail him out of jail — loans that were never repaid, according to court records. She won the case in August and was awarded the full $6,000.