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Former Saigon Grill Owner Goes To Jail, But Some Say Workers Still Suffer

By Leslie Albrecht | January 20, 2011 5:17pm
Workers have been picketing the Saigon Grill since late November.
Workers have been picketing the Saigon Grill since late November.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

By Leslie Albrecht

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER WEST SIDE — The former owner of Saigon Grill was hauled off to jail Wednesday, and worker advocates said they hoped the restaurant's new owners were paying close attention to the news.

Simon Nget, the former owner of Saigon Grill on Amsterdam Avenue and West 90th Street, was sentenced to three months in prison in the wake of a state attorney general investigation that found Nget mistreated his workers.

Nget pleaded guilty to one felony count of falsifying business records, one misdemeanor count of witness tampering, and one misdemeanor count of retaliation under state labor law.

The restaurant, known for cheap Vietnamese food, is now under new ownership, but some say its employees are still suffering. Workers have been picketing outside the restaurant since December. They're calling for a boycott because, they say, the new owners retaliated against employees who tried to unionize and discriminated against older workers.

Workers at Saigon Grill are calling for a boycott of the restaurant; they say the restaurant's new owners are discriminating against older employees.
Workers at Saigon Grill are calling for a boycott of the restaurant; they say the restaurant's new owners are discriminating against older employees.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

Josephine Lee, an organizer with the worker's rights group Justice Will Be Served, said she hoped Nget's jail time would send a message to Saigon Grill's new owners to follow labor laws.

"We applaud the New York state attorney general's office for setting a good example by putting this sweatshop boss in jail," Lee said in an e-mailed statement. "We need the New York state attorney general's office to do more criminal prosecution to make sure the law is upheld."

An attorney for Saigon Grill's new owners has denied the new allegations against the restaurant. The restaurant filed a complaint recently against the 318 Restaurant Workers' Union with the National Labor Relations Board.

Former owner Nget's workers won a $4.6 million civil settlement in 2008 after a federal judge found that Nget violated overtime and minimum wage laws by paying deliverymen less than $2 an hour.