56 Denver workers get $177k for unpaid holiday wages
Former staff at Wash Park Grille and Agave Taco Bar will share a settlement that covers back pay plus damages after the restaurants closed in February 2025.
By Marek Collins ·
Former employees of Wash Park Grille and Agave Taco Bar are set to receive a total of $177,244 in back pay and damages. Denver Labor, a division of the Denver Auditor’s Office, announced the settlement this week. It resolves an ongoing wage theft investigation into the ownership of both restaurants.
The money addresses unpaid wages from the 2024 holiday season. The settlement will be divided among the 56 workers who were employed at the time of the dispute. Each worker will receive approximately $2,093. This amount includes the full back pay owed plus an additional 70% in damages.
Denver Labor Executive Director Matthew Fritz-Mauer said the settlement was possible because employees kept detailed records. The staff provided pay stubs, receipts, and tip logs during the investigation. The restaurant ownership refused to cooperate with the department.
Owners Jeff Estey and Greg Sauber opened Wash Park Grille in 1997. It served as a social hub on Old South Gaylord Street for over 20 years. The pair added Agave Taco Bar in 2013. Problems arose publicly after Sauber died in 2022. His estate sued Estey in 2024 over a succession plan. That case was settled, but the city soon seized the restaurants for owing more than $30,000 in back taxes.
The restaurants briefly reopened during the holidays last year before closing permanently in February 2025. The building has since been taken over by Wash Park Social. Workers who did not receive final wages filed complaints with Denver Labor, which started the investigation. The department noted that the remaining owner said they did not have records for the final pay period.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics also assisted in the probe. Fritz-Mauer advised workers to keep pay stubs and log hours, noting that an owner’s failure to keep records can make a worker’s own proof the only evidence of earnings. Denver Labor reported recovering $2.31 million in back pay and penalties from similar investigations in 2025.
Source: Westword
