Popular Eatery Fined $500K For Exploiting Servers

LOS ANGELES, CA — The owners of a Los Angeles seafood restaurant were fined more than $500,000 for paying workers as little as $4 per hour when the minimum wage was more than twice that amount, the state Labor Commissioner's Office announced Monday.

Workplace regulators alleged that since 2014, 25 servers at the Shrimp Lover in Los Angeles were paid less than the minimum wage, weren't paid overtime or for meal and rest breaks and were required to work off the clock.

A message sent to the eatery was not immediately answered.

Owners Jaruwat Sonachai and Sineenart Klinmalai were ordered to pay workers $471,756 for underpaid minimum wage, overtime and meal and rest breaks, including $230,156 in waiting time penalties and liquidated damages, according to Labor Commissioner Julie A Su, whose office also levied $47,950 in civil penalties for the alleged wage theft violations and improper wage statements.

The office said it launched an investigation after receiving complaints from workers who reported underpaid wages to the civil rights group Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

"Paying servers a daily rate below the minimum wage is a business model built on wage theft," Su said. "This case demonstrates that when workers speak up about abuse, we will investigate and employers who rely on worker exploitation will be held accountable."

City News Service; Image courtesy of Google Maps