Workers of popular Burma Superstar restaurant awarded $1.3 million in class-action lawsuit
Workers of Burma Superstar, which has locations in Oakland and Alameda, won a $1.3 million class action lawsuit.
OAKLAND — Workers of the popular local restaurant chain Burma Superstar have been awarded $1.3 million in a settlement after suing owners for unpaid and unfair wages.
Kitchen employees of the Burmese Superstar restaurants, including Burma Love and B Star, located in Oakland, Alameda and San Francisco, sued the owners of the chain, alleging they failed to pay minimum and overtime wages, sick leave and proper rest breaks. Before the pandemic, the restaurants usually had lines out the door, as customers waited to grab a table at the well-known locations.
The class-action lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, included 350 current and former kitchen workers. On Tuesday, a judge issued the $1.3 million settlement in favor of the workers.
“I’m really proud that we spoke up for ourselves and the other kitchen workers and made real changes,” said former worker William Navarrette in a statement. Navarrette was a dishwasher, food preparer and cook from 2011 to 2016 at three of the locations in Oakland, Alameda and San Francisco restaurants.
The lawsuit alleged that sometimes workers were required to work full-time hours of eight hours a day, 40 days a week, but weren’t classified as full-time employees. The complaint alleged that the workers were regularly not given uninterrupted 30-minute meal breaks or the required 10-minute breaks.
The workers maintained that they were paid a fixed salary, less than two times the state minimum wage.
In addition to the $1.3 million, the restaurants also agreed to restore tips to all the kitchen staff, give back holiday and time-off benefits, and translate employee handbooks and rules in Burmese, Spanish and Chinese.
“Now, more than ever, collective action is critical to improving conditions for immigrant workers and workers of color,” said Jesse Newmark, litigation director for Centro Legal de la Raza, which helped file the lawsuit on behalf of the workers.
“These are the frontline workers who risk their own health and safety to provide essential services for all of us, and today they came together and proudly stood up for the rights of workers everywhere.”
Workers were also represented by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, and Legal Aid at Work. Carole Vigne, a director of the wage protection program at Legal Aid, said she hopes the settlement will inspire better working conditions in restaurants in the Bay Area.