NAIROBI, Kenya, July 24 – Kenyan-hailing American-based food outlet Swahili Village has reached a no-fault settlement with the District of Columbia over allegations of wage theft, concluding a year-long legal dispute.
The decision, the restaurant asserts, was made voluntarily to allow the business to refocus on its core mission of providing service to its customers.
In a statement, its founder, Kevin Onyona, emphasized that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.
“Contrary to the current narrative, it is important to highlight that we chose to voluntarily settle the dispute. We were not ordered by anyone to do so. Not the D.C. Attorney General nor the courts. Clause 18 of the agreement makes it very clear that the settlement of this lawsuit takes place on a no-fault basis,” he stated.
Last week, the Office of the Attorney General of Columbia fined Swahili Village Sh67 million ($526,973) to resolve a 2023 wage theft lawsuit in which Anyona is accused of violating an array of labor laws.
“Our investigation indicates that Swahili Village DC and its executives, Kevin Onyona and Emad Shoeb, persistently and systematically failed to pay hundreds of hard-working restaurant workers the wages, tips, and benefits they were legally entitled to receive, violating the basic wage, overtime, sick leave, and record-keeping rules that all District employers are required to follow,” read a ruling by Columbia District Attorney General Brian Schwalb.
