San Leandro sushi restaurant fined $43k in unpaid overtime: report

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - The U.S. Department of Labor is fining San Leandro restaurant Angry Fish Sushi for more than $43,000 for unpaid wages and damages alongside $7,800 in civil penalties after an investigation into their pay practices, according to a Thursday press release. 

The unpaid wages affected 24 workers.   

The DOL found that Angry Fish Sushi did not pay overtime rates to employees paid in cash, which is a violation to the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the press release.     

Investigators also found that the owner of the restaurant and a manager kept a portion of employee tips, what the DOL describes as a common restaurant industry violation. They also discovered minimum wage violations.   

"The U.S. Department of Labor will do all that's needed to protect restaurant workers from being exploited by employers who deny them their earned overtime and steal their hard-earned wages and tips," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Francisco Ocampo in San Jose, California. "The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate this type of misbehavior and hurtful labor practices."   

The restaurant, located on East 14th Street, was incorporated in 2015.