Tropical Chinese Failed to Pay Overtime Wages, Former Kitchen Helper Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The owners and operators of Tropical Chinese in Miami are the defendants in a proposed collective and class action through which the plaintiff, a former kitchen helper, seeks to recover allegedly unpaid wages. 

According to the lawsuit, defendants Tropical Chinese Restaurant Corp. and four individual owners forced employees to work substantial amounts of overtime—often 12-hour days with no breaks—without time-and-a-half wages. The plaintiff worked six days per week for the defendants, cutting vegetables and boiling sauces, from May 2015 through May 2017, the case says. The man claims he typically worked 11:15 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. with a half-hour meal period each weekday. On weekends, the plaintiff says he worked 11:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays without uninterrupted meal breaks, according to the lawsuit.

All told, the plaintiff claims he put in 62 hours and 45 minutes per week without rightful wages. 

“[The defendants] paid [the plaintiff] straight-time only (no overtime) for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per [week],” the complaint states, “regardless of the number of hours suffered or permitted to work. As a result, [the defendants] failed to pay overtime compensation, as required by the [Fair Labor Standards Act].”