Lawsuit: Han Dynasty Restaurant ‘Disguised’ Workers’ Job Duties to Avoid Paying Minimum Wages

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Two plaintiffs claim Han Dynasty Upper West Side Corp., which operates New York City Chinese restaurant Han Dynasty, and four individuals who run the business failed to pay tipped delivery workers proper wages. The 27-page complaint describes the plaintiffs as being employed “ostensibly” as delivery workers, as the individuals were allegedly required to spend more than 20 percent of their time at work performing non-tipped duties around the restaurant. According to the lawsuit, the defendants paid the plaintiffs and similarly situated workers below the minimum rate due in part to applying an improper tip credit to their wages.

“Upon information and belief, [the defendants] employed the policy and practice of disguising [the plaintiffs’] duties in payroll records by designating them as delivery workers instead of non-tipped employees,” the lawsuit claims. “This allowed [the defendants] to avoid paying [the plaintiffs] at the minimum wage rate and enabled them to pay [the plaintiffs] at a lower rate.”

Moreover, the case alleges the defendants withheld a portion of the tips the plaintiffs did receive to pay the restaurant’s hostess, and required the workers to buy their own “tools of the trade” and pay for bicycle maintenance without reimbursement.

Read about our previous write up of labor litigation against Han Dynasty and its operators here.