U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Illinois Restaurants Paying $254,000 in Back Wages and Damages

CHICAGO, IL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has entered a consent judgment ordering the owners and operators of two Illinois restaurants to pay $254,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 28 current and former employees.

The court ordered Tsho Inc., Ekyu Inc. and owners, Haruhisa Osada and Hideo Sudo, to pay the employees of Jurin Japanese Restaurant locations in Geneva and South Elgin to resolve violations of the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The judgment also requires the employers to pay civil money penalties of $9,000. The court also issued an injunction against the restaurants and their owners for violating employees’ FLSA rights.

WHD investigators found the restaurants, in some instances, failed to pay overtime when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The owners’ failure to record and pay employees for some of the hours they worked resulted in additional overtime and recordkeeping violations.

“Employers must pay their employees all the wages they have legally earned,” said Wage and Hour Division Director Thomas Gauza in Chicago. “Our work ensures that employers who follow the rules do not find themselves at a competitive disadvantage for doing so. We encourage all employers to reach out to us for guidance and for help in understanding their legal obligations to their workers.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.