Employees at Carl's Jr. Restaurants in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange are breathing a sigh of relief after they finally received their paychecks, following three weeks without pay.
12News began looking into the story after receiving a call from an employee who said workers had gone without pay for so long, their lights were being turned off and cars were being repossessed.
An employee at the Port Arthur restaurant, Denise Charles, said she typically gets paid every two weeks but when the Sept. 15 checks never showed up, she knew something was up.
"You know we work hard for our money," Charles said. "I couldn't make it, stuff getting turned off and people being a week behind on their bills and stuff."
A Carl's Jr. manager said it had to do with the sale of the franchise which went through Sept. 12, he said it was the former owner, Jing Tan, who was responsible.
A phone call was made by 12News to Tan on Tuesday and the next day the paychecks came.
Tan revealed employees had not received their money because of his own personal legal problems which forced him to sell the franchise. He said he had asked his former employees to be patient.
When 12News informed Tan that some of those employees were behind on their bills and couldn't make ends meet he said it wasn't his problem.
"I have no control on their lifestyles, I'm not cheating anyone," Tan said. "If they quit it's not my fault, not my problem."
One customer, Colita Blunt, said she knew there were issues when the number of employees dropped in recent weeks, but she said she was impressed with those that stuck around.
"What employees do you think are still going to come to work and not get paid?" Blunt said. "That's what you call dedication."
Charles said it wasn't easy to continue showing up to work.
"We really stuck around," she said. "There was a lot of people who didn't want to come to work since they didn't have a paycheck."
Aside from showing up, Blunt said the workers went above and beyond with their service.
"He [the manager] went out and got on the truck and provided us with the cups that we paid for so we're happy," Blunt said.
