Cafe workers awarded $4.6m
2008-10-22 12:11
New York - A group of Chinese immigrant restaurant workers who sued their bosses over years of substandard wages have won a major victory in New York.
A US magistrate on Tuesday ordered the owner of several Vietnamese cafes to pay more than $4.6m to a group of 36 delivery men who claimed they made less than minimum wage.
The court says the Saigon Grill restaurant paid its delivery workers no more than $600 per month.
All the workers were Chinese immigrants. Many were in the United States illegally.
Some of the delivery workers were able to bring in a few thousand dollars a month in tips, but only by putting in long hours six or seven days a week.
A lawyer for the Saigon Grill hasn't returned a phone call seeking comment.
- AP