Sapporo Restaurant Hit with Six Employees’ Wage and Hour Lawsuit

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A group of former and current employees of New York’s Sapporo Restaurant has filed suit against the eatery’s operating company and two individuals with control of the business, claiming the defendants failed to adhere to state and federal labor laws. The plaintiffs were allegedly employed as food packers, food runners, and servers but were not paid appropriate minimum wages for all the hours they worked, according to the suit.

The food runner and server plaintiffs claim the defendants applied a tip credit to their wages without informing them of the tip credit and made “unlawful deductions” from their pay, with some individuals claiming the restaurant withheld up to 50 percent of their tips. On top of that, the suit alleges, the tipped plaintiffs were required to spend more than 20 percent of each shift performing non-tipped duties, meaning they should have been paid the full minimum wage.

The complaint continues by listing several more alleged labor law violations, including the defendants’ supposed policy of automatically deducting $12.50 per week from the plaintiffs’ wages for meal breaks they never took. One plaintiff also claims she clocks out 15 minutes early at least three days per week without being paid for the time she works after clocking out. Furthermore, the suit argues that employees are required to purchase “tools of the trade” – including shirts and bandanas – without reimbursement.