Xioachun GAO v. Savour Sichuan, Inc.

New York City, New York labor law lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a Fair Labor Standards Act violation theory.







From July 17 through July 19, 2023, the Court conducted a three-day bench trial for Plaintiff Xiaochun Gao's claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219, and the New York Labor Law ("NYLL”), N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 190 et seq., 650 et seq., against corporate Defendants Savour Sichuan, Inc. ("Savour”) and The Best Sichuan, Inc., as well as individual Defendants Dongmei Wei, Weimin Hong, Xiaoman Duan, and Jie Fang. See Dkt. 164 (trial transcript for July 17, 2023); Dkt. 166 (trial transcript for July 18, 2023); Dkt. 168 (trial transcript for July 19, 2023). In its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law issued on February 16, 2024, the Court found Savour, Wei, and Hong ("Defendants”) liable on Gao's NYLL claims for minimum wage, overtime wages, and spread-of-hours pay. See Gao v. Savour Sichuan Inc., No. 19 Civ. 2515 (JPC), 2024 WL 664718, *19-24 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 16, 2024). The Court further found that Defendants failed to sustain their burden of demonstrating the requisite good faith to preclude the award of liquidated damages under Section 198(1-a) of the NYLL. Id. at *26. The Court thus awarded Gao damages in the amount of $3,743.32 in compensatory damages and $3,743.32 in liquidated damages, exclusive of pre- and post-judgment interest.

Judgment in favor of Plaintiff.