Ruby's Pizzeria closes, employees say they weren't paid

Some employees of a pizza shop in Cedar Rapids say their paychecks are a month overdue.

Ruby's Pizzeria shut down on November 7th, leaving workers with lots of questions.

Ashley Gates worked as one of the managers. She's been unemployed since November 7th, when the power first went off.

"November 7th, I was running our mall location and we have to get certain foods from downtown location because our mall location is small and they couldn't give it to me because the power was off,” Gates said.

Gates was first told it was a miscommunication.

"I thought it was just something downtown because there was so much construction downtown,” Gates said.

But the next day, when the doors for this shop and the one in the mall closed, employees learned it was from unpaid bills.

"Rent, internet and power from what I know,” Gates said.

Gates says the owner, William Payne also didn't pay workers their last checks.

"Every employee-- it's not just me-- i think there are seven others."

At first, Gates says she was in contact with him. She says he wanted to re-open the shops, but potentially with fewer hours.

She’s now starting to look for other jobs.

"It's one thing to do this, but it happened right before the holidays, and I have 2 children. It's not easy,” Gates said.

TV9 did call Payne on his cell phone, asking if he plans to pay employees or re-open the business. He has not returned our calls.

But after our interview, Gates did share a text she received from Payne later which says he is talking to a bank later this week.