Six former employees of the upscale Korean restaurant “Gayeon” located in Fort Lee, New Jersey, filed a
civil lawsuit against the restaurant for violating labor laws.
According to the lawsuit filed with the Bergen County Court on the 15 th , six Korean employees along with
the plaintiff, Kim, allege that the defendant, President Andy Sung and the “Gayeon” Korean restaurant –
did not pay them minimum wage or for working overtime, did not properly distribute tips, and never
gave them paid sick leave. Now, these former employees are demanding compensation.
The plaintiffs also alleged in the complaint that they were treated irrationally, citing a time when they
were verbally attacked by the defendants because they were not US citizens.
Kim & Bae, P.C., who is representing the plaintiffs and has taken charge of the case on their behalf,
explained that “If the charges brought against “Gayeon” restaurant are proven to be true then they will
be in violation of New Jersey Law Against Discrimination – N.J.S.A. 10:5-1.”
Meanwhile, President Sung denied the plaintiff’s allegations during a phone call with The Korea Daily on
the 19 th saying, “The claims related to not giving workers overtime pay and distributing tips are not true
at all.” He retaliated that, “The wages were paid in accordance with New Jersey law. Also, the claim of
discrimination on the grounds of not being a citizen is absurd. Most of the restaurant’s staff are Korean,
so why would discrimination occur amongst Koreans themselves? There was absolutely no such thing.”
