Long Island restaurants can’t duck fair pay
A chain of three Long Island Asian restaurants will pay more than $1 million in back wages and penalties to 255 current and former employees who were underpaid.
The owner of Asian Moon restaurants in Massapequa and Garden City and the Golden Rod Restaurant in New Rochelle will pay $1,085,752 in back wages, interest and liquidated damages. Plus the restaurants owe $98,231 in civil penalties to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
DOL investigators found the restaurants failed to pay minimum wages and overtime pay to kitchen and serving staff. Investigators also found that the restaurants falsified records of the hours employees worked.
The DOL took an unusual step to make sure the back wages and fines are paid: It filed a personal judgment against the owner.
Note: This case is a reminder that individual business owners face personal liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
