Can a small business owner be made to hand over his business because he's not running it?

I work in a small repair shop which employs about a dozen people across two locations. Over the years the owner has spent less and less time doing any work and I have taken the role of managing one of the stores. Recently he has starting withdrawing more money from the store than it can handle and bills are stacking up - credit cards are not being paid, nor are advertisers, and even basic bills like electricity are not being addressed. It it only when we get final notices before the services are disconnected that I am forced to take action. Nobody has ever been given the responsibility of paying bills, it was always his role. Had I been told that this was my responsibility, I would have done it. I already run the day to day operations of the shop completely without any imput.

This irresponsible behavior is costing the store more and more money in late fees and penalties. So much so that recently he has not been paying me my complete wages. Not only this, but he refuses to communicate on the issue. He rarely if ever comes to the shop so direct confrontation is all but impossible. Phone and e-mail are the only options and 90% of the time he will not answer his phone and only answers the e-mails he feels like answering. The one time I was able to ask him he stated I would be paid when the store had the money.

It has been several weeks this has been going on and people who know him personally say that he is not in a stable enough mental state to make rational decisions. They also have implied that drug use is likely as well.

It is a sole proprietorship so nobody can force him to do anything. I have spent over 5 years working here and helping to build up the reputation of the store. We have hundreds of clients which rely on us for service and feel it would be negligent to abandon them, my co-workers, and the business which I have helped to build. Were it not for that I would simply seek employment elsewhere and file with the workforce commission for my back pay. Apart from the money the owner is withdrawing without contributing, the store is quite capable of remaining financially solvent.

A few people have mentioned that the BBB or some similar group would be able to help force a change. Is there any legal way to make him to address the issues at hand or sign over control to the employees who already run the place? We have already attempted communications about setting it up as a franchise or taking out a loan to purchase it outright but as I stated before he simply will not respond. The same goes for legal pressue as well - many past employees were not paid their final paychecks and he ignores all communication from the workforce commission until he is absolutely forced to act.

Is there anything the other employees and I can do so save the shop and our jobs or is the ship sinking and all we can do is bail out?