Operators of Richmond’s Kobe Japanese Steak & Sushi Hit with Wage and Hour Lawsuit

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Kobe Enterprises, Inc. and an individual with control over the business face a proposed collective action in which the plaintiff claims he was not paid proper wages while working as a server at the defendants’ Kobe Japanese Steak & Sushi restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. The complaint says the plaintiff worked as a server for the defendants from September 2016 until January 2017, when he began working as a cook. During his time as a server, the plaintiff was paid at a tip-credited rate of between $2.59 and $3.00 per hour, the lawsuit says.

The plaintiff claims the defendants required tipped employees to participate in a mandatory tip pool. According to the case, this tip pool was illegal in that it included the restaurant’s owners, managers, and “back of the house” staff who do not ordinarily receive customer tips.

“As a result of [the defendants’] policy and practice of maintaining a mandatory, but invalid tip pool, [the defendants] violated the rights of [the plaintiff] and similarly situated tipped employees by failing to pay the mandated minimum wage of $7.25 an hour,” the complaint asserts.