D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has launched two new enforcement actions targeting what his office alleges are persistent violations of city law.
He secured a $243,350 settlement with the owners of the popular downtown restaurant and nightclub The Park at 14th over labor violations. Further, he filed a suit against the owners of two Ward 4 apartment buildings accused of forcing tenants to live in dangerous conditions and retaliating against residents who demanded repairs.
The actions, announced this week, touch two issues affecting many District residents, workers’ rights and safe housing, and continue a series of enforcement cases brought by the Office of the Attorney General against employers and property owners accused of violating local law.
“Today, we’re putting money back in the pockets of hundreds of workers who were denied the compensation and benefits they were legally entitled to,” Schwalb said. “Wage theft and illegal worker misclassification does not only harm hard-working employees — it also interferes with honest businesses’ ability to compete on a level playing field.”
The labor settlement resolves an OAG investigation into Park Place Inc., which owns and operates The Park at 14th, a restaurant, nightclub, and event venue at 920 14th Street NW in Ward 2.
According to OAG, the investigation found evidence that more than 270 workers were affected by labor law violations, including: the failure to provide paid sick leave to more than 200 employees between 2021 and 2024; misclassifying some workers as independent contractors instead of employees; retaliating against workers who questioned their wages or tips; and failing to provide legally required written notices explaining pay rates, pay dates, and tip-sharing policies.
District law requires restaurants to provide accrued paid sick leave, allows employees to begin using that leave after 90 days of employment, and prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who raise concerns about wages or workplace rights.
Under the settlement, Park Place Inc. will pay $127,321 to harmed workers and $116,029 in civil penalties to the District. The agreement also requires the company to provide retroactive paid sick leave to current employees, implement policies designed to comply with District wage and hour laws, and submit annual compliance reports to OAG for three years.
The settlement states that Park Place Inc. denies the District’s allegations and that entering into the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or liability.
“At a time when families across the District are struggling to make ends meet,” Schwalb said, “my office will continue to fight to make sure workers receive what they’ve earned and that businesses operating in D.C. follow the law.”
‘Every D.C. Resident Deserves a Safe, Healthy Place to Call Home’
Schwalb’s office also filed a lawsuit against Saifur Khan and Monna Khan, along with their companies, 16th St. Heights Aaron LLC and Ahmed Inc., alleging they allowed two Brightwood apartment buildings to deteriorate while retaliating against tenants who organized to demand repairs.
The lawsuit focuses on apartment buildings at 1355 Peabody Street NW and 6000 13th Street NW, which together contain 96 apartments. According to OAG, inspections and the agency’s investigation documented housing code violations dating to at least 2022.
Investigators alleged that tenants endured heating outages lasting days and, at times, weeks during winter, chronic infestations of bedbugs, cockroaches, and mice, broken windows and doors, damaged walls, ceilings and floors, malfunctioning appliances, exposed wiring, missing smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, and other fire and electrical hazards.
“Every D.C. resident deserves a safe, healthy place to call home, and when tenants advocate for better living conditions, it is illegal for landlords to retaliate against them,” Schwalb said. “The owners and managers of these properties have flouted D.C. law for years, collecting rent while forcing their tenants to live in squalor. At a time when the District is facing a housing affordability crisis, my office will continue to protect our existing housing supply.”
According to the lawsuit, tenants formed a joint tenants’ association after repeatedly seeking repairs. OAG alleges the landlords responded by threatening to call police if meetings were held, issuing eviction notices to the association’s president and vice president shortly after they helped organize visits from OAG investigators, warning residents not to allow OAG staff into their apartments, pressuring tenants to stop working with volunteer organizers, and playing loud music during a tenant rally in an effort to drown out speakers.
Ward 4 Council member and Democratic mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George said residents should not have to fear retaliation for demanding safe living conditions.
“For years, tenants at 1355 Peabody Street and 6000 13th Street have organized, spoken out, and demanded the safe, dignified housing they deserve,” Lewis George said. “No family should have to endure prolonged outages, pest infestations, unsafe conditions, or retaliation simply for advocating for basic repairs.”
The lawsuit seeks court orders requiring repairs to the properties, restitution and damages for affected tenants, and civil penalties against the defendants. Saifur Khan and Monna Khan nor their attorneys returned messages left by The Informer.
Department of Buildings Director Brian Hanlon said the case reinforces protections for tenants who report unsafe housing.
“This case shows that retaliating against tenants for reporting poor housing conditions to our agency, or exercising any other lawful right, is illegal in the District, and we will work with our agency partners like OAG to keep that from happening,” Hanlon said. “All District communities are safer when tenants, landlords, and District agencies communicate openly to solve housing problems.”
The Office of the Attorney General said its Workers’ Rights and Antifraud Section has secured more than $20 million for workers and the District since Schwalb became the District’s elected attorney general in January 2023. Since gaining independent wage theft enforcement authority in 2015, the office has recovered more than $35 million through investigations and enforcement actions involving alleged labor law violations.
“I appreciate Attorney General Schwalb’s action to hold these landlords accountable and to protect tenants’ rights to organize without fear of intimidation,” Lewis George said. “Ward 4 residents deserve safe homes, and landlords who fail to meet their legal obligations must be held responsible.”
