Two Myrtle Beach City Council members facing legal issues

Two Myrtle Beach City Council members have run into legal issues this summer.

A former server named Big Mike’s Soul Food owner Michael Chestnut in an Aug. 1 suit against the eatery, alleging that a portion of her wages was never paid out.

Chestnut, a 20-year council member and city’s mayor pro tempore, declined to comment.

The employee, who worked at Big Mike’s from 2017 through April, claims the restaurant required them to perform “non-tip producing duties” that exceed what’s allowed under state labor law.

According to the suit, a portion of all tips received was pooled and split with the restaurant’s busing crew.

It also asserts servers were tasked with duties including deep cleaning work at a rate of $2.13 an hour rather than the minimum wage of $7.25.

Attorneys for the server are seeking a maximum of $74,999 in damages. The case is scheduled to go before a mediator on Feb. 23.

Meanwhile, John Krajc, first elected in 2019, was issued a $439 fine by the city’s police department after being cited for reckless driving on June 29, according to publicly available court documents.

The case was assigned to a transfer on July 5, but no further details were available.

The Sun News submitted a Freedom of Information Act inquiry with the Myrtle Beach Police Department for a copy of the incident report.

Krajc did not respond to text or voice messages seeking comment, but the report said on the day he was cited, the 34-year-old was pursuing a group of teenagers that were tossing fireworks from a car, several of which landed near his girlfriend and her dog,

Krajc reportedly closely followed them and attempted to cut them off after being told by dispatchers to stop chasing the car,

This story was originally published August 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM.