‘A Slice of Heaven’ Costs $128,565.94

In 1989, a little known movie was released that started the career of a certain “Pretty Woman,” Steel Magnolias. However, Roberts’ breakout role in the 1988 movie Mystic Pizza is what launched her into stardom.

The movie was about three girls, coming of age while working at a pizza restaurant in the Connecticut town of Mystic. What most people never realized is that this little pizza restaurant is actually a real place that’s still in business to this day. While Roberts’ career has taken off and she’s making millions of dollars, the employees of Mystic Pizza are, in fact, barely making minimum wage!

The restaurant, which prides itself on ‘a slice of heaven,’ was recently under investigation for not paying its employees the minimum wage. The initial investigation revealed that the owner was paying some employees as little as $5.69 per hour, which is much less than Connecticut’s required minimum wage of $8.70 per hour. Other employees were paid $7.40 per hour, and some employees worked up to 93 hours per week and were not paid the required overtime. The owner says the workers were paid in cash for the overtime, but nothing was ever recorded.

All in all, this slice of heaven is going to cost the owner a serious piece of the pie! The owner is reportedly providing the CDOL with individual payroll checks for the 110 employees that range from approximately $30 to more than $15,000. In total, the amount owed to the employees is $105,165.94. The owner will also be responsible for an additional $23,400 in civil penalties for 155 violations of a state statute that covers minimum wage and overtime. This amount is still far less than what Julia Roberts makes for one movie these days and probably far more than what she made for Mystic Pizza!