Feds Suing Missouri Restaurant for $1.87M Dollars in Back Wages

An investigation by the United States Department of Labor has led the feds to sue a Missouri restaurant for $1.87 million dollars in back wages on behalf of 26 employees.

I saw someone on the Missouri sub-Reddit share the news of an effort by the US Department of Labor to punish a Jefferson City restaurant for years of back wages. It involves Dragon Kitchen in Jefferson City which allegedly violated federal regulations between December 21, 2021 through July 31, 2024 by doing (and not doing) the following in a press release:

• Paying employees straight-time pay rates when overtime wages should have been paid.
• Not paying servers and other employees the required minimum wage and overtime pay. Paying servers only the tips they received.
• Not maintaining complete and accurate time records

The lawsuit seeks $1,871,840 which includes what the feds say is $935,920 of back wages for the 26 employees affected plus an equal amount in what they refer to as "liquidated damages".

The United States Department of Labor included this statement in their press release:

“Allowing servers to work for tips only and pay a set cash wage to cooks blatantly violates federal wage law. All too often, our food service industry investigations find employers violating federal overtime, minimum wage and recordkeeping regulations. At the same time, workers are unaware of their rights and afraid to question their paychecks’ accuracy,” said Wage and Hour District Director Noah Lee in St. Louis, Missouri.

The press release of these allegations and lawsuit was issued on September 18, 2024.