The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a consent judgment requiring MKK Holding Inc., operating as Blue Fish Asian Cuisine in Dearborn, Michigan, to pay $38,602 in back wages and liquidated damages to 17 employees. The judgment also finds owner Sung Hee Kim in contempt of a 2018 court order to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan entered the judgment on March 20, 2024. The amount includes $19,301 in back wages and an equal sum in liquidated damages. The judgment mandates that Kim demonstrate compliance with the FLSA within 30 days.
The resolution follows a complaint filed by the Department of Labor after an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division found violations of the FLSA. These included paying kitchen staff and some servers a flat day-rate without overtime for hours worked over 40 per week. Other servers were paid hourly rates but received overtime at only one-and-a-half times Michigan's subminimum wage for tipped workers instead of their regular rates as required by law. Investigators also alleged incomplete time records and manipulated pay records suggesting false compliance with the FLSA.
In addition to back wages, MKK Holding Inc. has paid $17,153 in civil money penalties for willful and repeat violations of the FLSA.
This is not Kim's first encounter with legal action over federal wage violations. In 2018, she was found to have violated multiple FLSA provisions at another restaurant she owned, Seoul Garden in Ann Arbor. At that time, the court permanently barred her from violating the FLSA.
"Employers like Sung Hee Kim who violate the Fair Labor Standards Act repeatedly show a blatant disregard for their employees and the law by not paying workers their rightfully earned wages," said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. "Wage violations hurt workers and their families, and cause harm to local economies because workers have less money to spend."
"The U.S. Department of Labor will take all necessary legal action to protect workers’ rights to their earned wages and hold employers accountable when they fail to comply with the law," said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago.
For more information about wage laws or assistance, individuals can contact the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The agency also offers a Timesheet App available on iOS and Android devices.
United States Department of Labor v. MKK Holding Inc., et al.
Civil Action No.: 4:24-cv-10677-SDK-EAS
