Ruby Tuesday in DeKalb closes

DeKALB – The city’s Ruby Tuesday was among the rest of Ruby Tuesday Inc.’s franchise-operated locations throughout the state to close unexpectedly Wednesday.

A sign on the doors at Ruby Tuesday, 2370 Sycamore Road, DeKalb, read “closed today – thank you.” Ruby Tuesday has 14 Illinois locations, three of which – Decatur, Champaign and Quincy – are listed online as being permanently closed. Non-franchise-owned locations including Fairview Heights, Collinsville and Litchfield will remain open, employees from each location said Wednesday. Phone lines to the remaining eight franchise-owned restaurants throughout the state were either unanswered or out of order Wednesday evening.

“Our Illinois Ruby Tuesday restaurants were owned and operated by an independent franchisee. As the franchiser of this concept, we went to great lengths in assisting the franchisee to remain open, but he has made the decision to close his restaurants,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “We appreciate the patronage of the many residents and guests that have dined at the Illinois Ruby Tuesday restaurants over the years along with the dedicated employees of the franchisee and will evaluate opportunities to return to the market in the future.”

DeKalb city management analyst Jared Heyn was not aware of the closure Wednesday. The city sent a DeKalb fire inspector, who handles some of the restaurant’s licensing, to check on the restaurant Wednesday afternoon, but could not make contact with workers.

A class action lawsuit was filed against Ruby Tuesday Inc. earlier this year, accusing the company of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to the lawsuit, the company encouraged employees to work off-the-clock by limiting the hours they are allowed to be clocked in and pays its employees less than minimum wage for non-tipped work.