SF Collects $525,000 in Back Wages From Restaurant

The City of San Francisco received its largest single payment of back wages ever when Dick Lee Pastry coughed up $525,000. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chinatown buffet/dim sum restaurant/bakery had forced employees to work 11 to 14 hour days six days a week, and they were paid less than $4 an hour for their trouble. One former employee will receive $89,000 from the settlement.

Peter Yu and Ada Chiu, owners of Dick Lee Pastry, allegedly gave employees "fake three-hour work schedules" and then proceeded to pay them just for those hours. Many of the employees of the restaurant were recent immigrants who were unaware of US labor laws. Yu and Chiu paid the settlement fine to avoid "a $1.5 million judgment and the possible seizure and sale of two properties."

· SF Restaurant Pays Back Wages, Fines [SF Chronicle]
· All San Francisco Coverage on Eater [-E-]