56 Former Wash Park Grille Workers Get $117,000 in Unpaid Holiday Wages

Fifty-six former employees of Wash Park Grille and Agave Taco Bar are set to receive $177,244 in back pay and damages. The money covers wages owed for the 2024 holiday season, a period the workers claim was left unpaid after the restaurants closed in February 2025.

Denver Labor, a division of the city auditor’s office, finalized the settlement this week. The total payout breaks down to $2,093 for each of the 56 workers. This figure includes the full amount of unpaid wages plus an additional 70% in damages.

The investigation was complicated by the non-cooperation of the business owners. Jeff Estey and Greg Sauber opened Wash Park Grille in 1997 and added Agave Taco Bar in 2013. Following Sauber’s death in 2022, a dispute over the estate’s succession plan led to a lawsuit in 2024. That legal battle settled shortly before the city seized the properties for owing more than $30,000 in back taxes.

During the wage theft investigation, the remaining owner told Denver Labor that records for the final pay period did not exist. Executive Director Matthew Fritz-Mauer credited the settlement to the employees themselves. He noted that staff kept pay stubs, receipts, and tip logs, which provided the necessary proof of earnings when the business side could not.

Fritz-Mauer advised other workers to maintain their own financial records. He stated that a worker’s own documentation may be the only evidence of what they earned if a business owner fails to keep files. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment also assisted in the investigation after receiving complaints from the staff.

The two restaurants briefly reopened during the holidays of 2025 before closing for good in February 2025. The building now houses Wash Park Social. In 2025, Denver Labor recovered $2.31 million in back pay and penalties from similar investigations.