Former Upper Crust Owner Working for New South Shore Pizza Shop

A former Upper Crust owner, who allegedly exploited his former employees, is now working for the new Peel Pizza Company, which will open in its former location in Hingham Square next week.

Brendan Higgins, who was a co-owner of Upper Curst is the brother-in-law of Peel Pizza Company’s owner, Matthew Troy.

On Thursday, Troy said Higgins will be working for his new pizza business as a manager, but wants no affiliation to the Upper Crust. 

“This company is 100 percent owned by me,” Troy said. “It’s 100 percent my investment dollars. We have zero affiliation with the Upper Crust and we would like to keep it that way.”

Higgins was a co-owner of the Upper Crust with Joshua Huggard and founder  Jordan Tobins before they were forced to slice up their business at an auction last winter after filing for bankruptcy. Tobins, according to reports, .

The filing came after years of controversy for the local chain. Unfair labor charges and legal wrangling amongst owners dominated headlines over the past few years.

Immigrant employees claim Upper Crust took advantage of workers and seized back wages from them, according to the Boston Globe.

The pizza company was accused of underpaying Brazilian immigrant workers for long work weeks, while its owners indulged in luxuries such as a yacht, according to a 2010 investigation published in the Globe. The Brazilian employees took their complaints to federal labor officials, who ordered the pizza chain to pay workers about $350,000 in overtime. 

Upper Crust executives then allegedly slashed employee wages, resulting in a class-action lawsuit and another labor investigation.

Higgins, Tobins and Huggard have repeatedly denied these allegations, according to Boston.com. 

In October, Upper Crust filed for bankruptcy protection after years of financial and labor troubles.  A month later, a bankruptcy trustee closed 10 Upper Crust locations, including the one in Lexington because the business had almost no cash and few supplies after executives paid themselves a month’s salary in advance.

Several Upper Crust locations, . 

"We're going to make sure our employees are well trained and well taken care of," Shawn Shenefield, director of operations at UC Acquisitions, told Patch after his firm purchased the stores. "We have great employees, and we were lucky enough to have a couple people come back who worked for the previous company."