Soo Moon Nam Jib Restaurant Must Serve Korean Waitresses Unpaid Minimum Wage And Overtime Pay

This is an edited version of a press release from AALDEF
Newark, NJ — The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s (AALDEF) New Jersey- Asian American Legal Project (NJ-AALP) announced a settlement on behalf of two Korean waitresses against Soo Moon Nam Jib Restaurant—the largest Korean restaurant in Palisades Park, New Jersey. AALDEF NJ-AALP filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for years of unpaid minimum wage and overtime pay and a charge with the National Labor Relations Board for violating Federal laws protecting workers who organize for improved working conditions. The settlement announcement follows a week when community residents and workers protested against the ongoing labor violations at another eatery, Dongari Restaurant, in Fort Lee.
 
The waitresses worked twelve-hour days at the busy Soo Moon Nam Jib Restaurant, serving and cleaning up after customers at a non-stop pace. Yet, the employers never paid them minimum wage or overtime pay. In addition, the employers fired the two waitresses after the workers participated in a meeting to discuss the conditions at the restaurant as well as incidents of tip stealing.
 
This victory was another one in in AALDEF NJ-AALP’s Campaign for Korean Restaurant Workers’ Rights in New Jersey and follows the protest at Dongari Restaurant in Fort Lee, New Jersey (see previous article). Last week, AALDEF, former employees of Dongari restaurant, and local residents demanded that the employers pay their workers the tens of thousands of dollars owed to them in unpaid wages, chanting “Respect labor laws!” and “Workers are not your slaves!” The owners of Dongari continue to break the law and not pay their workers. Some of the workers have not been paid in over eight months.