The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Dragon Kitchen of Jefferson City and its owner, Danny Cheng. The suit follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, which found that servers were working for tips only and cooks were paid a fixed cash salary regardless of hours worked. These practices led to violations of minimum wage and overtime regulations.
Filed on September 17, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Central Division, the lawsuit seeks $1,871,840. This amount includes $935,920 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 26 affected workers. Additionally, a civil money penalty of $35,672 was assessed for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The Wage and Hour Division found that from at least December 21, 2021, through July 31, 2024, Dragon Kitchen violated federal regulations by:
- Paying cooks and other back-of-the-house employees straight-time pay rates when overtime wages should have been paid.
- Failing to pay servers and other front-of-the-house employees the required minimum wage and overtime pay; servers were paid only the tips they received.
- Not maintaining complete and accurate time records as required.
“Allowing servers to work for tips only and paying a set cash wage to cooks blatantly violates federal wage law,” said Wage and Hour District Director Noah Lee in St. Louis, Missouri. “All too often, our food service industry investigations find employers violating federal overtime, minimum wage and recordkeeping regulations. At the same time, workers are unaware of their rights and afraid to question their paychecks’ accuracy.”
In addition to seeking back wages, damages, and penalties, the lawsuit aims to prevent Dragon Kitchen and Cheng from future FLSA violations. It also requires them to provide employees with information on their federal wage protections in languages requested by employees.
In fiscal year 2023 alone, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $29 million in back wages for food service industry workers nationwide.
For more information about wage laws or if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division, visit their website or call their toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The agency also offers a Timesheet App available for iOS and Android devices to ensure accurate tracking of hours worked.
