Court orders founder, operator of 6 Teriyaki Grill locations in Utah to pay $198K in wages, damages to 20 workers shortchanged overtime

SALT LAKE CITY – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and injunction against the operator of six Teriyaki Grill locations in Utah who denied 20 employees their legally earned overtime wages.

On Sept. 18, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah ordered Mike Keim, the chain’s founder, to pay $197,936 in back wages and damages to 20 workers after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators determined the employer issued workers two paychecks semi-monthly to avoid paying them the required overtime rate of time and one-half their regular rate, and failed to keep records as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

“As operator of six Teriyaki Grill locations, Mike Keim clearly denied hard-working employees the wages they earned,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City. “Restaurant industry workers depend on every dollar they earn and yet, they often fall victim to unscrupulous employers. The outcome in this case demonstrates the Wage and Hour Division will use whatever tools are needed, including litigation, to recover workers’ wages and hold employers accountable for violating federal law.”

The consent judgment requires the employer to pay 20 employees $98,968 in overtime wages and $98,968 in damages. The employer was also assessed $2,064 in civil money penalties for employing workers between the ages of 14 and 15 later than permitted by federal law.

Keim, a former NFL lineman, founded Teriyaki Grill in 1997. The chain now has 10 franchise locations operating in Utah, including six he operates in Draper, Lehi, Midvale, Park City, Spanish Fork and Taylorsville.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers and employers can call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. Calls are confidential and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. 

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices, now available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.