The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $90,000 in unpaid wages and liquidated damages for 35 workers at a sushi restaurant in Kapolei after its managers illegally pocketed some of the tips earned by employees.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Sushi Bay owner Lance Yamamoto deprived servers, cooks and kitchen helpers of their full amount of tips, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

A restaurant employer cannot keep employees’ tips for any purposes, including allowing managers and supervisors to keep any portion of those tips.

In a statement today, Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu said, “Tips earned for service are the property of the people who earned them.”

“Employers who withhold or allow managers to pocket tips that rightfully belong to those who received them for their hard work are breaking the law and will be held accountable,” Trotter said.

The division recovered $45,549 in wages and an equal amount in damages on behalf of the affected workers. It also assessed Sushi Bay $3,842 in civil penalties.

In 2017, the Wage and Hour Division recovered $22,146 after investigators found the restaurant failed to pay employees overtime.

Sushi Bay opened at the Kapolei Shopping Center, 590 Farrington Highway in 2013.

The Wage and Hour Division has regulations that prohibit retaliation, harassment, intimidation and adverse actions against employers who assert their worker rights. To learn more about the division and how to file an online complaint, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).