There won’t be any Disney World vacations – or even trips back home – for the 36 Chinese-immigrant delivery workers awarded $4.6 million in a federal labor-violations case against Saigon Grill.
Most just want to get back on their bikes and resume delivering the spicy Vietnamese fare that they insist will earn them up to $4,000 a month in tips now that the bosses aren’t siphoning their money, they said at celebratory press conference yesterday.
“We all want our jobs back. We are waiting to get back to work. The conditions will be better now,” said Ke Yu Guan, 36, whose share is worth $120,203.
“I will bring my wife and kid from China with this money,” said Ke.
So far, seven workers have returned to work.
A Manhattan federal judge ruled Tuesday that restaurant owner Simon Nget, a Cambodian refugee, systemically cheated the workers – all immigrants from China’s Fujian province – of wages by not paying overtime or minimum wage, then illegally firing them when they threatened a lawsuit.
Not including tips, some workers toiled for as little as $1.60 an hour, in violation of minimum wage rules. They were “fined” for minor infractions, like slamming a door. Nget also gave the workers $1,000 weekly paychecks, but they were forced to return as much as three-quarters of the pay to him as cash.
“At a minimum, Simon Nget and [wife] Michelle Nget showed no regard whatsoever for legal requirements in connection with their wage policies,” Judge Michael Dolinger wrote in his decision.
Each worker will receive $1 in damages for every dollar in lost pay, a smaller amount for state labor law violations, and reimbursement for their bicycle or motorbike expenses.
Chen Xu Hui, 41, who has $214,468 coming his way, has already gone back to work, but lamented that his hours were cut down to 20 a week. “I used to work very long hours,” he said.
An attorney for the workers, John Adler, warned Nget not to declare bankruptcy to try to avoid paying the workers.
Noting that Nget owns a building on Second Avenue, Adler said, “We’ll seize the building and sell it to get them to pay.”
“Every restaurant in the rest of the city has to be paying a minimum wage. This is going to set a precedent for future cases,” Adler added.
Neither Nget nor his attorney returned calls for comment.
cbennett@nypost.com