Duncan Morrison, a restaurateur involved with four Victoria companies that tallied 80 employment standards complaints over the last decade, says that he is leaving town.

The operator of the Wharfside Seafood Grille is under fire from a host of former workers who claim they've had paycheques bounce or haven't been paid at all. A former employee who claims to be owned $3,000 in unpaid wages is organizing a protest Monday outside the Morrison-managed restaurant on Wharf Street downtown in the wake of a wave complaints to B.C.'s Ministry of Labour.

An "Occupy Wharfside" Facebook page had 150 members as of Thursday.

Since September 2010, the province's employment standards branch has received 17 complaints about the Wharfside Seafood Grille.

Morrison said in an interview Thursday his time in the hospitality industry is coming to an end.

"I will be selling my management contract and leaving Victoria," he said. "It is time to go."

He would not say who is buying the contract and said he did not own the restaurant.

Calgary is his probable destination. "I have some potential projects in Calgary, so these were kind of in the works anyway. This will just expedite the negotiations."

He would not comment on previous complaints to the employment standards branch or on the civil cases. "That is in the past. I'm getting out of the industry and I'm leaving Victoria."

Of the 17 complaints against the Wharfside Seafood Grille filed with the employment standards branch, 10 are open and seven are closed through a voluntary resolution among the parties.

The Wharfside Eatery, another registered company, had three closed complaints - one by voluntary resolution and two by a determination issued by the branch, which came in January 2010 and January 2011.

"What needs to happen in this kind of situation is that the employment standards branch needs to get involved, and that is actually what has happened," Margaret MacDiarmid, B.C. labour minister, said in an interview Thursday. "They do have an active investigation underway regarding the Wharfside."

Fines for contravening provincial rules start at $500, rising to $10,000.

The numbered companies owning the restaurant at 1208 Wharf St. are listed as "not in good standing," by the B.C. corporate registry.

Government documents state that Rajdeep Khurana of Victoria is director of 0836316 B.C. Ltd., Wharfside Seafood Grill. Its most recent annual report was filed in October 2010.

The company 0762736 B.C. Ltd., which did business as the Wharfside Eatery, lists its director as Maria-Jose Hernandez, with a mailing address of 1208 Wharf St., the address of the restaurant. Its most recent annual report was filed in July 2010. Hernandez is the former wife of Morrison.

A writ of seizure and sale was granted in the Supreme Court of B.C. in April 2011 against the Wharfside Eatery for $2,092 after the employment standards branch went to court on behalf of an employee, who was owed wages, vacation pay and interest from 2008. Two fines totalled $1,000, with the remainder allocated to the former worker.

The Wharfside Eatery was closed temporarily in April 2007 for failing to pay $316,477 in taxes. A few months later, Wharfside creditors approved a repayment plan from Morrison, who then owed creditors $6.4 million.

Along with the 20 Wharfside complaints, another 39 employment standard files were in connection with the English Inn and Resort in Esquimalt. Of those, at least 25 were resolved voluntarily. Morrison and Hernandez were directors of the company owning the inn, which went into receivership in 2009. At that time, staff complained they were not paid wages owed.

Another 24 closed employment standards complaints came from the downtown Victoria Dominion Hotel, sold by Morrison and Hernandez in 2006. Of those, eight were deemed to be contraventions, the fault of the employer, including failure to provide vacation pay and overtime.

Morrison has been involved in several other companies, including nightclubs, restaurants and travel agencies in Victoria over several years.

Morrison and seven of his companies have faced more than 70 civil court actions, many of them in small claims court, mostly in the 1990s and into the 2000s.

Beric Ofori, 26, worked at Wharfside as a cook from July to December last year. He has submitted a complaint to the employment standards branch, saying he is owed about $3,000.

"The government should take action," Ofori said.

Ofori said he is due money for overtime worked, vacation pay and tips, as well as regular pay. Staff were often told by Morrison to wait a number of days before cashing paycheques, he said. In the fall, "he told us, 'don't cash for five days because there is no money in the account.' "

In November, one of Ofori's paycheques bounced, and payment was stopped on his December cheques, he said. He spoke to Hernandez and Morrison without any luck. At one point, Morrison offered him $20 cash.

Looking back on his experience, Ofori said, "it was just really strange and disorganized."

Ofori arrived for work in January to find that his name was taken off the shift schedule and said he was told by Morrison that he was "laying people off. It is the slow season and he doesn't have the money to pay people."

Ofori faced eviction from his apartment because he was not able to cover his $870 rent. An anonymous donor covered the cost after media coverage.

He has since found a job at the Tudor House Pub in Esquimalt and expects his first paycheque today.

Morrison said of the 10 outstanding complaints, five have been resolved and payments have been made to the labour board. Another one has been resolved, another may be settled, and a third one may require mediation. "Hopefully, by the end of the week or Monday, everything is resolved," Morrison said. A meeting on Ofori's complaint is set for today at labour board offices in Victoria. Morrison said Ofori is owed less than half of what he is claiming.

The City of Victoria and Victoria Police Department both said there have been no complaints filed about the business.