Seattle Solidarity applauds the Attorney General for finally taking action to protect workers from the abuses of the Bhatti family under Royal India, however “Dastoor” was just a rebrand, not new ownership.
Seattle Solidarity welcomes the Washington State Attorney General’s long-overdue decision to pursue legal action against the owners of Royal India—which until recently was operating under the rebranded name “Dastoor Indian Eatery.” While we applaud this step toward justice, it comes only after years of inaction by local authorities, who repeatedly failed to enforce wage laws or uphold basic health and safety standards. Dozens of workers have endured wage theft, bounced checks, and dangerous conditions under the Bhatti family’s management, and many of them remain uncompensated to this day. The state’s intervention is necessary—but it should not have taken this long, which is why we continue to emphasize worker-driven collective action. Without the continued pressure that Seattle Solidarity placed within the local community and government, we remain dubious that the Attorney General would have acted at all.
Since 2004, Royal India operated two restaurants, one in Kirkland and one in Lynnwood, under the ownership of Mohammad Rashid Bhatti and his daughter Aeisha Bhatti, along with her sisters Zehra and Alveena. Over the years, the restaurants became known not for their food, but for a long history of worker exploitation. Since 2018 alone, at least 37 wage complaints have been filed with Washington Department of Labor and Industry against the business, with workers reporting bounced checks, withheld wages, missing pay stubs and W-2s, and other illegal practices [link]. Juan and Pedro, two former employees, reached out to Seattle Solidarity in 2023 to demand their unpaid wages, and despite sustained organizing efforts, those wages remain unpaid.
In addition to wage theft, Royal India’s Kirkland location was issued a stop-work order and shut down by authorities on March 7, 2024, due to serious safety violations involving fire suppression systems [link]. Multiple inspections across both locations also documented an extensive history of black mold, unsafe food handling, and other health violations [link]—underscoring the dangerous conditions both workers and customers have been subjected to for years.
In a clear attempt to evade accountability, the Bhatti family rebranded Royal India as “Dastoor Indian Eatery,” with the Lynnwood location quietly adopting the new name while maintaining the same menu, website structure, and business operations. Despite the cosmetic change, evidence reinforced that ownership had not changed. In a public records request (pictured below) Seattle Solidarity learned that Aeisha Bhatti was named on the official business license as one of the two Governing Persons alongside Alina Florescu, as well as other building permit filings. This rebrand was not a new business—it was a calculated move to shed the Royal India name while continuing the same exploitative practices under a new façade.
Marigold Design House is registered to Aeisha, although workers have told SeaSol that Alina also manages it, as shown by her deleted LinkedIn page (link) Alina Florescu is so closely tied to Aeisha Bhatti, Florescu lives in a house owned by Bhatti (according to workers SeaSol organized with).
After years of silence and inaction, the Washington State Attorney General finally decided to take notice of the rampant wage theft and unsafe working conditions to charge Mohammad and Aeisha Bhatti with felonies We’re glad the AG’s office has decided to wake up, even if it took over 37 wage complaints, a stop-work order, more than 50 SeaSol pickets, and a public trail of abuse to get their attention. While this move is certainly better late than never, it’s hard not to wonder whether the state is more interested in salvaging its image than in truly standing with the workers who’ve endured years of exploitation. Seattle Solidarity welcomes any step toward accountability—but we’ve learned not to mistake delayed legal action for real solidarity.
Seattle Solidarity stands firmly with Juan, Pedro, and all the workers who have been exploited by the Bhatti family under both the Royal India and Dastoor names, as well as their other unscrupulous businesses. These workers deserve more than belated investigations—they deserve full repayment of every stolen dollar, including bounced checks and unlawfully withheld wages. We demand meaningful legal action against Aeisha and Mohammad Bhatti to ensure they can no longer abuse workers, now or with any future scheme they may have, and we call for strict enforcement to prevent the Bhatti and Florescu families from continuing to operate new restaurants while profiting off the same exploitative business model. Rebranding doesn’t erase abuse—and justice shouldn’t stop at a name change.
