Things have returned to normal at the Sound Bites Cafe in Somerville’s Ball Square, where old and new management drew reprimands from the U.S. Department of Labor and the city’s Licensing Commission. For its workers, things may be even better than they were.
Sound Bites, opened in 1996 by Yasser Mirza, is known for its controversies as well as for its popular brunch: When the Ball Square Cafe opened next door in 2007, a legendary feud broke out between Mirza and its Mike Moccia that in 2010 exploded into an all-out brawl, landing the men in court. In 2022, employees complaints about inadequate pay led to reports of retaliation and even threats of deadly violence.
Mirza sold the restaurant in mid-December to Kelard Zera, but a change in ownership didn’t end the managerial missteps.
The most recent problems got hashed out – and Zera got chewed out – at a May 21 hearing of the Licensing Commission. He was called before the commission for operating without proper permits from December to March, when commissioners found out and forced the restaurant to sell food for takeaway only.
Representing Zera, attorney Carolyn Conway told commissioners that the three months the restaurant operated without proper licensing resulted from “confusion” and “misunderstanding.”
“Counselor, no offense, I know you’re just representing your clients – I’m not buying it that it was a mistake,” chair of the commission Joe Lynch said. “If you’re purchasing a building and a restaurant for over a million dollars, that’s an investment of your money. You should know that you need licenses and permits.”
The effect of that mistake on Sound Bites’ workers, and concern about new and potentially discriminatory practices by Zera, drew employee advocates to the hearing too.
Francisca Sepulveda of the Massachusetts Coalition of Occupational Safety and Health and Somerville Workers Center director Juan Williams alleged “deeply harmful working conditions” over the past 20 years, as they wrote in a letter submitted to the board.
Labor issues
In two investigations concluded in 2021, the federal Department of Labor found 30 violations – mostly charging unfair compensation – affecting at least 17 employees. The department of labor sued Mirza and in 2022, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts fined him $15,000. The government argued that he he leveled death threats against Fabian Zuleta, a worker seeking proper overtime pay.
The came the loss of in-person dining for three months because of Zera’s paperwork problems, but that was just part of the obstacles continuing to face Sound Bites workers, Sepulveda and Williams wrote: “Since December, employees have had their hours dramatically cut, continue to have differential payment based on ethnicity and have not had their vacation time restored.”
Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, a neighbor of the restaurant, started a GoFundMe to support workers who had to leave Sound Bites or faced reduced hours that cut their pay, forcing them to find additional, supplementary work. “They went for several months without being licensed, without knowing who their employer was – in limbo. And as a result of, frankly, the negligence of not following through, these workers lost their livelihoods,” Goldstein-Gelb said.
A chair’s warning
The commission reinstated Sound Bites’ permits in May, but denied the restaurant’s request for outdoor dining behind the restaurant, deeming the area inaccessible for people with physical disabilities.
Lynch also left Zera with a warning, saying the commission was aware of the government’s previous investigation into the restaurant. “It does not bode well for the current owners for their first appearance in front of this commission to plead ignorance of the fact that they should have had valid licenses,” Lynch said. “That’s why you can hear the tone of my voice.”
The Sound Bites owner’s lawyer, Conway, assured commissioners that Zera would be “more than willing” to meet with employees or their representative for productive discussion. “Things can move forward so that everyone is satisfied,” Conway said.
Better Bites
In the weeks since, things have improved, according to the workers’ advocates.
“It seems like it’s back to normal. Some of them are getting their schedules back. Work has picked up, which has been good for them,” Sepulveda said of the Sound Bites staff. “At the moment, we’re just being cautious. We’ve just been trying to monitor the situation.”
There are times employers wait “until the waters are more calm and they feel there’s no more attention on the case, and they go back to how it used to be,” Sepulveda said.
Zera and Conway were contacted for comment but did not reply.
A stronger
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