A turning point in the Saigon Grill saga... Last week, a judge with the National Labor Relations Board ruled that the owner of Manhattan's Saigon Grill restaurants illegally fired 28 deliverymen last year and should reinstate them: Restaurants Must Rehire Deliverymen, Judge Rules. The deliverymen have been picketing for nearly a year now, so the decision is good news.
The judge ruled that Simon Nget, Saigon Grill's owner, had illegally retaliated against the workers—all of them immigrants from China—by firing them because they were planning to bring a wage and hour lawsuit against them. Before being fired, the deliverymen asserted that they were sometimes paid only $120 for a 75-hour work week. That comes out to about $1.60 an hour, well below the minimum of $4.85 an hour they were supposed to be receiving under state law. This, in addition to other illegal deducations and fines. With this ruling, no more. Looks like it's time for Mr. Nget to rehire and pay up!
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