|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A former employee of Kobe Japan in Livermore is pursuing a lawsuit against the restaurant over a slew of allegations, including wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation.
Ex-chef Jose Solis alleges that after he raised concerns about delay of wage payments, he returned from a one-shift medical call-out to find the restaurant effectively fired him by removing him from the workplace schedule.
The business also failed to consistently provide rest and meal periods to employees as required by California Labor Code and falsified payroll records to cover its tracks, according to the lawsuit.
The former employee filed a civil complaint against Kobe Japan Restaurant Inc. on July 24 in Alameda County Superior Court. Solis is represented by attorney Charles Casado, who declined to comment when contacted by Livermore Vine.
Kobe Japan ownership did not respond to requests for comment at their Livermore and Pleasant Hill locations. Court records filed last week indicate the company’s representatives have been served with a copy of the lawsuit.
Solis seeks a trial by jury in pursuit of relief including damages, unpaid compensation, meal- and rest-period premium wages and the costs of the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Solis began working at Kobe Japan on First Street in Livermore in December 2022.
He alleges that during his employment, the restaurant denied employees 10-minute uninterrupted breaks during their shifts and forced staff to work through their meal periods during high-volume holiday shifts.
In his lawsuit, Solis accuses Kobe Japan of falsifying time records to include breaks that employees did not actually take and misrepresenting the working hours on wage statements by omitting meal-period premium wages.
Kobe Japan also routinely issued paychecks about one week after the set pay date in violation of labor code, according to the complaint. Solis said he expressed his concern multiple times about the late payments to the restaurant manager who acknowledged the concerns but did not correct the practice.
Sometime in early 2025, Solis transitioned to a part-time status from full-time at Kobe Japan. That April, he told his manager he could not work a scheduled shift because of a medical condition affecting his foot and ankle, according to the complaint.
The manager acknowledged the notification and did not object, but when Solis checked his schedule the following week, he discovered Kobe Japan removed him from the work schedule, according to the lawsuit.
Solis said he sought an explanation from his employer and was told he was not assigned to work anymore. His employment at Kobe Japan effectively ended, but the restaurant had not issued a formal notice of termination, documented performance concerns or applied progressive discipline, the complaint states.
His firing and the retaliation were “willful and deliberate”, entitling Solis to punitive damages, his attorney wrote in the lawsuit. The lawyer alleged Kobe Japan did not provide his client with a final paycheck in a timely manner, as required by law.
The lawsuit also contends the restaurant negligently hired, supervised and retained employees, saying Kobe Japan “knew or should have known that their employees were likely to be unfit and engage in unlawful conduct”.
It further accuses the business of failing to provide accurate wage statements, maintain required payroll and employment records, provide employment records upon request and conduct fair business practices.
Kobe Japan representatives have not responded to the lawsuit in writing to the court to date.
The two sides are scheduled for their first court appearance, an initial case management conference, on Jan. 4 in Department 512 at the Hayward Hall of Justice.
