I'm glad you think it's so cut and dried. In a rural area, jobs are hard to come by. This guy was a millionare and only hired divorced mothers. They're easier to cheat as they have to work. If there are no other jobs, you keep quiet in order to eat. I did walk off as I was married and not reliant on him. And tips are a gift for good service. I have no problem with taxing them for income but it hurts those who can least afford it and just what we need is more taxes. No one that worked at The George Inn was a kid nor a college student. These were Moms trying to feed their kids and 2 were widows. How many jobs do you think there are with only 3 restaurants in a rural area? And it's fairly easy to tell someone else to get a job elsewhere when there are none and it doesn't affect you personally. If these ladies could work somewhere else, they would have.
Look, I know what its like in rural areas... I have family in parts of Utah that most maps don't even have.... If he's violating the law, turn him in... Otherwise its time to figure out a different plan.
If he's screwing over his people, EVERYONE in the area already knows it, if it is as rural as you claim... so it seems that the opportunity to run him out of business is pretty darn good... However, it still doesn't change the fundamental realities.
My in law, who lives out in Utah, worked at a convience store/quick mart type of place for years, was paid dirt, and basically ran the whole thing day in and day out.. made all the food, home made soups etc etc... It took her years, but she finally did parlay that job into another one, and the place she worked for went under quickly after she left... I told her years before she left that she should open her own place... but she didn't have the confidence in herself to do it.
I understand out in the sticks its tough, trust me. And its ALWAYS tough when you are a single mother, or father... in the sticks or the city. However you, always control your destiny, not others... if things are that bad, its time to make a decision and do what needs to be done. If that means relocating closer to family... or even away from family and all you know to accomplish it, then sometimes its what needs to be done.