Wage Theft and Worker Abuse at Royal India/Dastoor Update

Seattle Solidarity Network is excited to showcase the wins we have amassed over the past year and a half of active boycott and protest:

  • Since starting the fight in March 2023, Seasol has held 43 pickets (and counting) at Royal India/Dastoor, decimating their business in both Kirkland and Lynnwood.
  • We destroyed their business so much that after being shut down by the Fire Department for public safety in March 2024, Royal India Kirkland decided it was too much trouble to re-open.
  • Seasol spilled ALL the tea to Seattle Times to highlight the states’ top wage thief. This caused the restaurant to change their name to Dastoor to try to get away from their terrible history – it has not worked because they barely have any business any more!
  • When illegally keeping the restaurant open without a working refrigerator, Seasol activists called Public Health of Seattle & King County repeatedly to hold them accountable for illegal operation until they finally closed.
  • Pressured the Attorney General to open an investigation into the blatant wage theft, and they did.


Over the course of our fight, Seasol has reduced Royal India to a single location, forced them to change their name in shame, and surrounded them with a community that is too embarrassed to enter their doors. Seattle Solidarity will always show up for workers, and workers can wield their collective power against abusive bosses like those at Dastoor/Royal India.


The non-chain restaurant with the most [L&I] complaints was Royal India, with two locations in Lynnwood and Kirkland. Owner Mohammad Rashid Bhatti and manager Aeisha Bhatti have been the subjects of at least 37 wage complaints from workers since 2018. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)