A San Francisco karaoke joint has been accused of unfair business practices, including keeping staff tips and adjusting staff time sheets, according to two lawsuits first reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
Attorneys representing two former employees at Pandora Karaoke & Bar filed separate lawsuits against Pandora Karaoke Inc. and its owner Timmy Choy — plus 50 individuals who were listed as partners, shareholders or managers — on Jan. 5 accusing the business owner of unpaid overtime, failure to let staff take rest and meal breaks, as well as adjusting time sheets and hours “to avoid payment of earned wages.”
Other allegations in the lawsuits filed at the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco claimed that Pandora Karaoke required servers and bartenders to share a portion of their tips with both the owner and managers, which is unlawful in California.
“Defendants required its servers and bartenders, including Plaintiff, to share a portion of their tips with both the owner and manager despite neither performing service-related duties,” the lawsuits read. “More specifically, the ‘house’ would take a percentage from all tips earned and the manager would take at least an additional 15% from all tips earned.”
Additionally, former employees Kimmy Dao, a server from 2010 to Nov. 4, 2023, and Ares Mora-Love, a barback through Dec. 29, 2023, according to the lawsuits, were terminated when they complained about wages and tip theft to other team members as well as for “raising this and other issues with defendant verbally and in writing on multiple occasions,” the lawsuits claim.