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Fenway restaurant pays $320,000 to 59 current, former employees following federal probe

Investigators found that SOJUba failed to properly compensate workers, among other violations.

February 5, 2024

1 minute to read

A Fenway restaurant has paid $320,000 in back wages and damages to 59 current and former employees to resolve multiple violations uncovered by a federal investigation.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, investigators found that SOJUba, located at 1265 Boylston St., failed to inform some of its employees of their cash wage and tip credit, as required by law, and included some ineligible employees in the tip pool, resulting in others not getting all the paid tips they earned.

“Certain workers were denied the federal minimum wage as a result of the invalidation of the restaurant’s ability to take a tip credit,” the Department of Labor said in a statement.

In addition, the investigators found that the restaurant did not pay at least the minimum wage to front-of-house employees, pay proper overtime wages, or maintain payroll records.

“During the division’s investigation, the business told workers what to say to investigators, in violation of the FLSA’s anti-retaliation provision,” the department said.

As a result of the investigation, SOJUba has paid the workers $147,500 in back wages and $147,500 in liquidated damages, on top of $25,000 in punitive damages.

The restaurant also paid $40,000 in penalties to the Department of Labor.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act clearly spells out an employer’s responsibilities to pay proper minimum wage and overtime rates to employees and forbids employers from attempting to coerce workers or tell them to not participate in a Wage and Hour Division investigation,” Carlos Matos, Wage and Hour Division District Director in Boston, said in a statement.