Chapel Street nightspots face prosecution over alleged workplace breaches

Companies and individuals behind a string of Chapel Street bars face prosecution over alleged breaches of workplace laws in the wake of raids by the wages watchdog.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched legal action in the Federal Circuit Court against one of the few businesses in the La La Bar Group that has not folded: J.D. Chapel Nominees Pty Ltd. The company runs the Jane Doe Bar in Prahran.

Jane Doe was part of a network of nightspots under the La La Bar Group’s umbrella, which The Age revealed in 2019 faced accusations of significantly underpaying staff.

The Ombudsman sprang Jane Doe with surprise audits in the wake of The Age’s reporting, along with others in the La La Bar Group including Wonderland, Electric Ladyland, and Lucky Liquor on Chapel Street.

The Ombudsman now alleges the audits found each of the companies in the group, including J.D. Chapel Nominees, breached the Fair Work Act by failing to make and keep proper records. They also allege J.D. Chapel and several others in the group failed to comply with “notices to produce” documents.

A number of individuals are also the target of the Ombudsman’s legal action: Keri Taiaroa, a former director and shareholder of a number of La La Bar companies; Matthew Sanger, a former general manager of the companies; and Nicholas Accounting Management Services Pty Ltd, which provided services to the group.

The Ombudsman alleged both Mr Taiaroa and Mr Sanger were involved in J.D. Chapel’s record keeping breaches, as well as the breaches by other companies under La La Bar.

They alleged Nicholas Nicolaou, the accounting service’s director, was involved in the company failing to comply with the notices to produce documents.