Feds File Injunction Against Framingham Restaurants, Owners

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Framingham restaurant owner may not threaten or retaliate against employees after the Department of Labor secured a preliminary injunction and federal court order.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division began an investigation of Samba Steak and Sushi and China Gourmet in late 2022 to determine if they were in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, officials said.

The division’s findings led the department to file suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging that Samba, its sister restaurant, China Gourmet, and owners, Shi Yun Zhang and Risheng Xu, violated the FLSA by not paying proper overtime compensation and keeping records of workers’ pay and hours.

The complaint also alleges that Samba and its owner retaliated against employees who engaged in protected conduct under the FLSA.

This retaliation, which started during the department’s investigation, includes discouraging employees from speaking with division investigators and having employees sign records that misrepresented the hours employees worked.

The department also alleges that Samba and Zhang retaliated against employees by demanding that they provide Social Security cards under threat of being fired.

The preliminary injunction specifically prohibits Samba and Zhang from doing the following:

• Firing employees, or reducing their hours or pay, without first providing one week’s notice to the department and the affected workers as to the non-retaliatory business justification for the termination and/or reduction of wages or hours.
• Demanding immigration-related documents or information from employees, including but not limited to Social Security cards or numbers, employment authorization documents, visas, passports or driver’s licenses.
• Instructing or otherwise communicating to employees not to speak to department representatives or to provide false information about their work hours, pay or other terms and conditions of their employment.

The injunction also requires Samba and Zhang to post and provide workers with a notice of their FLSA rights and allow division representatives to read the notice to workers during paid working hours.

In investigations of these restaurants in 2020, the division found widespread wage and recordkeeping violations and reached settlements in which the restaurants paid more than $250,000 in back wages and promised future FLSA compliance.