Last week, the family of a Rhode Island man with autism who worked part-time for a local Applebee’s for a year without being paid went public about his predicament. Within only a few days, Applebee’s promised to pay the man first for the 166 hours recorded in their system, then for all 480 hours that his family claimed he had worked.

He had initially been part of an unpaid training program and placed in that job by a local nonprofit agency that helps developmentally disabled people that assists developmentally disabled workers. The organization’s own time logs showed that he had worked 166 hours, and he had never used Applebee’s systems to clock in or out.

His family had submitted the 21-year-old’s payroll information multiple times, but he never ended up in the system, and never received any paychecks from the restaurant. The family finally pulled him from the job, but have pleaded with the public not to attack or boycott Applebee’s or the nonprofit involved.

Applebee’s, for its part, claims that the call from the news station was the first that it had heard about the situation. The state’s department that works with developmentally disabled people (and that funds the nonprofit that had placed him in the job) is investigating this incident to figure out how it could have happened.

Another lesson out of all this for members of the public is about fundraising schemes for people in the news: A Gofundme page in his name, which had a fundraising goal of $50,000, appeared and further horrified his family.

Applebee’s agrees to pay autistic man for hours worked [WPRI]

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