Samba Steak Framingham facing federal labor investigation

A Framingham, Massachusetts, restaurant owner has been ordered by a federal court not to threaten or retaliate against employees amid an investigation into whether the business violated overtime and recordkeeping rules.

The U.S. Department of Labor said it started an investigation into Samba Steak and its sister restaurant Sushi and China Gourmet in late 2022 over concerns that the businesses may not be adhering to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An investigation found that the businesses and the owners, Shi Yun Zhang and Risheng Xu, violated the law by not paying appropriate overtime or keeping records of their workers' pay and hours.

The DOL alleges that Zang also retaliated against employees when the investigation came to light, including telling employees not to speak to federal investigators and forcing them to sign falsified records of hours worked. Zang is also accused of threatening to fire employees if they could not provide Social Security cards.

Samba, and Zang, have been ordered by preliminary injunction to cease that behavior. Specifically, the order bans:

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any firing or reducing of employees' hours or pay without one week's notice to the department and affected workers, to ensure there is a business justification for the termination or reduction of hours
any demands for immigration-related documents or information from employees, including Social Security cards or numbers, authorization documents, visas, passports of drivers licenses
any instruction of employees not to speak to investigators or to lie about work hours, pay, or other conditions of employment.

Samba and Zang are also required to post and provide workers with details on their FLSA rights.

This is a second instigation into these restaurants, according to the DOL. In 2020, the department found widespread wage and recordkeeping violations. The restaurants settled that case, paying more than $250,000 in back pay to employees and promising future compliance with the law.