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PITTSBURGH -- A Vienna restaurant was one of three impacted by a recent federal ruling regarding employee pay.
Following litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Solicitor, a federal court has entered a consent judgment against three restaurants in Pennsylvania and West Virginia -- including one in Vienna -- after investigators found they paid back-of-the-house employees off-the-books salaries for all hours worked and denied them overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a work-week.
The judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on March 16 requires Fusion Japanese Steakhouse Inc. in Washington, Pa., Fusion Japanese Steakhouse Inc. in Vienna, and Z&S International Cuisine Inc. operating as Fusion Japanese Steakhouse of Wheeling in Triadelphia, W.Va., and owners Yuan Zheng Xiao and Christine Xiao, to pay $1.45 million, comprised of $725,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, to 116 current and former workers.
The department also assessed the restaurants and their owners $76,724 in civil penalties for the willful nature of their violations. The employers' pay practices and failure to maintain records of hours worked violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In addition to the back wages and damages, the judgment prohibits the employers from future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
On three prior occasions following investigations in 2012, 2011 and 2010, the restaurants and owner Yuan Zheng Xiao have paid back wages to workers after violations of minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions were discovered.
"This legal action recovers the workers' hard-earned wages and sends a strong message to other restaurant employers that violations come at a high cost," said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. "The U.S. Department of Labor is prepared to use every tool available, including litigation, to prevent employers from depriving workers of their wages."
Wage theft is illegal, it harms workers and their families and undercuts responsible employers who abide by the law, Acting Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman said.
"This sizable judgment on behalf of restaurant workers demonstrates the Department of Labor's commitment to protecting these essential workers," she said.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 958,000 food and accommodation services workers left their positions in December. The bureau also projects about 41,400 openings for food service managers each year, on average, from 2020 to 2030.
"Business owners need to understand retaining and recruiting workers becomes much more difficult in today's changing job market where workers have choices about where and for whom they work," Looman said. "Employers who take advantage of workers by violating their legal rights will find it increasingly difficult to find the people they need to fill jobs and stay in business."
The consent judgment follows an investigation by the division's Pittsburgh District Office and litigation by the Regional Solicitor's Office in Philadelphia.