U.S. Department of Labor sues Maru Sushi for not paying minimum wage
Haley Hansen
GRAND RAPIDS — A Michigan sushi chain is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for violating labor laws.
A lawsuit filed in October in federal court in Grand Rapids alleges that Maru Sushi repeatedly violated the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Maru Sushi owner Robert Song and the restaurant locations in East Lansing, Okemos, Grand Rapids and Midland are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Song declined to comment when contacted by the State Journal Friday evening.
The lawsuit says the restaurant paid less than minimum wage and alleges that the restaurants required servers to pool tips and distributed part of servers' tips to cooks and managers. The restaurants also didn't pay overtime, according to the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Maru didn't have accurate time records for some cooks and sushi chefs and failed to maintain any records of the half-time premium owed to some employees.
The Department of Labor is seeking damages equal to the amount of unpaid compensation for the more than 140 current or former employees listed on the lawsuit.
Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.