Shohko Shakedown

Downtown sushi restaurant Shohko Café is on trial today for alleged wage theft

By Aaron Cantú

A judge in the First Judicial District Court is hearing arguments today for a case of alleged wage theft brought against downtown sushi restaurant Shohko Café by three current workers.

Luis Ramirez and Victor Matzir, who’ve worked for the restaurant since 2012 and 2008, respectively, claim to have not been paid time-and-one-half rate of pay for overtime worked over several years. Their initial complaint was filed last April.

Another man named Wilmer Alexander Gaytan, who’s worked for Shohko since 2011, also claims to have been paid below the city-mandated minimum wage for two years. That rate is currently $11.40 an hour and can change annually based on a federal cost of living index.

The three men argue the restaurant illegally withheld a total of $39,853 in wages. Trent Atkins Howell, the attorney representing owners Shohko and Hiro Fukuda, said in his opening statement that the restaurant "has valued and taken care of" the three employees for years, and that the limitations period should confine the claims to after 2012.

"Once [the owners] realized they had erred, they tried to keep the door open and make it right," Howell told the court, adding that the defendants believed the case was "punitive and disproportionate with the situation."

If the Fukudas are found guilty of violating the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act, a judge could order them to pay the workers equal to double the amount of unpaid and underpaid wages owed, plus interest.

Shohko Café is closed Mondays and its owners couldn't be reached for comment. The trial before Judge David K Thomson is set to conclude this week.

The workers had help bringing the Shohko lawsuit from the immigrant advocacy group Somos un Pueblo Unido, which in the last year has aggressively helped workers organize and file claims for wages withheld in violation of city and state law.

On March 9, two current and three former employees at the Santa Fe Bar and Grill filed claims with the state's Department of Workforce Solutions for unpaid overtime totaling $100,000. Some also filed retaliation complaints, claiming owner Rob Day decreased their work hours in response to workers organizing.

The claims never went to trial. Somos announced on May 21 a settlement between the workers and Day for an undisclosed amount.

"We believe we reached a satisfactory agreement to resolve these claims," said Yessenia Sanchez, a prep cook at the restaurant, who Somos quoted in a press release.

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