Are restaurants (USA) known for not paying employees who quit/walk out?

[Fireball]

It's news to me. The only experience I have in that line is when I worked at a gas station back in the early '70s. Someone was pinching money out of the till, and I had to empty my pockets for the manager. I informed him that that I don't work with thieves and gave two weeks notice. Two weeks later I was out of work, and couldn't get my last paycheck. It took going to the labor board to do it, but I got my pay. Tell your friends to use the labor board. That's what they are there for.

Yea it's not just personal friends of mine it's friends of friends and stories I've heard through the grapevine.

Also, why did you quit the gas station place? Was it about legitimately not wanting to work with a thief or were you appalled that the manager would accuse you? You do understand that it sort of makes it look like you were the one stealing lol

Regardless, I wonder if it's one of those things where people are not going to get into a some huge thing over a 20 hour paycheck or something (though I probably would) and the restaurants/bars assume this so they think they can get away with it.

One story involved a friend of a friend where the restaurant had two different locations and they made him go back and forth between the locations two or three times before finally giving him his last check... they kept saying "It's at the other building" to him until he finally put his foot down and said, basically, " give me my check now or else"

Both reasons. It is unlawful for your employer to make you empty your pockets for a search (of course there are conditions on that, but in this case it was unlawful- though I didn't know it at the time- I just didn't like it). And I don't like working with people who cause problems in the work place. One of the other guys wanted to fight me because of the money disappearing. I suspect that he was the culprit, because I knew I wasn't. I checked back periodically, getting gas at that station, and the shortages were still going on. And I don't think that my saying that I don't want to work with thieves throws any shade on me. I guess other people see it differently.