FLAGSTAFF, AZ — A former cook and bouncer for a Flagstaff, Arizona sushi bistro recently filed an unpaid overtime lawsuit against the company over allegations that the restaurant’s owners failed to properly pay him for all his hours spent on the job. The claim accuses Monsoon Chinese Bistro and Sushi and its owners of violating federal wage and labor laws and seeks to recover back pay with interest, damages, and attorneys fees to cover the cost of litigating the matter.
According to the unpaid overtime lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the plaintiff worked as both a chef and a bouncer for the restaurant, earning two different wages for his positions. While working as a chef, the plaintiff earned $13.50 per hour and as a bouncer, he earned $8.05 per hour, but would only be paid overtime based on his wages as a bouncer, no matter what position he was in when working above the 40-hour overtime threshold.
The claim alleges that the defendants sometimes failed to pay any overtime at any rate for either occupation. Furthermore, the lawsuit also asserts that the plaintiff at one point worked as a food cart tender, but these hours were never credited on pay stubs and did not count towards his overtime wages. The lawsuit describes those actions as “yet another deliberate way to avoid accurately counting plaintiff’s hours worked to avoid paying overtime.”
In 2016, the defendants promoted the plaintiff to executive chef at the restaurant, paying him a flat salary of $35,000 per year. However, the lawsuit claims that despite the new title, the plaintiff continued to perform essentially the same duties but earned no overtime pay despite frequently working between 70 and 80 hours per week. If true, the allegations would be the second unpaid overtime claim against the company after it settled wage theft claims with the Labor Department, which date to the same time periods alleged by the plaintiff in this latest suit.
Restaurant Worker Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
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