Major ice cream chain and Baskin-Robbins rival fails to pay workers before confirming abrupt closure

A MAJOR ice cream chain has had a store shut down after failing to pay its workers and for breaching safety protocols, employees have claimed.

Baskin Robbins rival Cold Stone Creamery has lost its store in Plymouth, Massachusetts after being shut down by disgruntled workers and the Health Department.

Ice cream lovers who visited their beloved store were shocked to find a note on the door detailing unpaid staff and Health Department violations as a reason for its sudden closure.

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has received several complaints against the franchise from workers.

Cold Stone employee Hunter Jafferian told CBS News: "I missed my paycheck for a couple of weeks and was given zero understanding.

"They would say we are having issues with your paycheck, and it will come tomorrow. Tomorrow would come, and we wouldn't get paid."

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Fellow worker Izabella Brewer spoke about two of her colleagues saying: "They haven't been paid for five weeks. Today they got paid, and didn't get the correct amount at all."

Meanwhile, Assistant Manager of the Plymouth store, Timothee Stewart said: "When I looked at one of my paychecks, I got $492.

"I divided that by how many hours I had, and that came to $9.20 an hour. That is way below minimum wage."

"I reached out saying this isn't correct, only to hear nothing from my managers," he added.

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While the Attorney General's office has refused to confirm or deny if there is an ongoing investigation into the ice cream chain, Brewer said she was called by an investigator from the office.

The store was ultimately shut down last week by The Plymouth Health Department when it became aware that staff did not have basic safety qualifications.

According to the Health Department, none of the staff at the store had ServSafe certification which is awarded following a course teaching basic safety training and protocols for operating a restaurant.

Stewart told the news outlet that Karen Keane, Director of the Plymouth Health Department asked him for the "licensing and the ServSafe certification tickets."

"I showed them all of those things. All were expired," he said.

Jafferian added: "You have to get it renewed every few years just to make sure you know how to properly take care of your company and that has not been done."

Keane explained: "They did [have employees who were certified] but they are either gone or the people who are there, have ServSafe Certification that is expired.

"The one that I had looked at expired six months ago. When they couldn't produce any certification that is current, we had to close the store."

Keane was also unable to contact the owners directly after shutting down the store not once but twice.

"I have left messages. I actually talked to one of the employees when I was there, and asked them to give them a call at that time, but they said they weren't allowed to call them," the director said.

A week after closing the store, Keane walked by to find that the store had reopened.

She then asked the two for their ServSafe certifications but "they couldn't produce it," she said which saw her close the store again until the correct paperwork could be shown.

Cold Stone Creamery confirmed to The U.S. Sun that the store was "an independently-owned, franchised location."

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"Cold Stone Creamery is committed to best-in-class operations, and the fair treatment of all Cold Stone Creamery employees," it said.

"We are looking into the details surrounding this franchised location and claims about the restaurant owner’s operations and will take corrective measures where necessary."

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