Sacramento restaurant Kru agrees to pay former employees in $700,000 settlement

The Abridged version:

• Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, a star in Sacramento’s restaurant scene, agreed Friday to pay $700,000 to settle a class action lawsuit filed by a former employee.
• The lawsuit alleged Kru employees routinely had their meal breaks cut short and had to perform work tasks during off-hours.
• Former employees will receive more than $400,000 from the suit, while the plaintiff’s attorneys will collect $261,770.

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Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine finalized an agreement Friday to pay $700,000 to settle former employees’ class action lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court.

The Japanese restaurant, a star of Sacramento’s dining scene, will pay 321 former employees a total of $402,979.83, according to court filings. It will also pay Jongbyuk “Peter” Kim, a former prep cook who brought the lawsuit forward, an additional $10,000, and will pay $261,770 to Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers, the law firm representing Kim and the other class members.

Kim only worked at Kru from February through April 2024, according to his Private Attorneys General Act lawsuit filed that July. But during that time, he alleged, Kru supervisors made him perform work tasks such as completing onboarding forms and studying the restaurant’s menu off the clock without pay.

Kru employees also frequently had their own meal periods skipped, interrupted or shortened, and were asked to sign “on-duty meal period” waivers, according to Kim’s lawsuit. These waivers are common in California restaurants; a server may sign one to continue waiting on a table and collect their tip, for example. Yet they’re only allowed for employees working shifts fewer than six hours, or up to 12 hours if the employee previously took a 30-minute break.

Kim said an employee could have covered another’s shift during those meal periods, and he accused Kru of relying on a company policy that said the restaurant wasn’t obligated to pay premiums or provide additional break time when those periods were disrupted.

Kim also accused Kru of not paying employees the right amount of sick leave by not factoring in missed tips and not paying wages in a timely manner. Kru hourly employees from February 2020 through August 2025 were eligible to be included in the class.

Kru denied each of Kim’s accusations in an August 2024 response to the court. But the two sides reached a preliminary agreement in January, which was finalized in court Friday.

“For more than 20 years, we have proudly served the Sacramento community. While navigating evolving regulatory requirements can be challenging, we take our responsibilities seriously and are working diligently to address any concerns and ensure full compliance,” Kru owner Billy Ngo wrote in a text message to Abridged. “We look forward to moving ahead and continuing to serve our employees, customers, and community.”

Kru must pay $300,000 within 10 days of the settlement’s final approval Friday, according to court filings. The remaining $400,000 may be paid in quarterly installments up to September 2027.

Ngo founded Kru in Midtown Sacramento as a 23-year-old in 2005, and grew it into the city’s premier sushi restaurant. It moved to its current, larger East Sacramento space at 3135 Folsom Blvd. in 2016, and added a to-go outpost in Garden at The Line in 2022. Ngo saw his personal star crescendo in 2024, when he became the region’s first James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef — California.

Ngo bought out former Kru partners Jon Modrow and Kimio Bazett in 2021 after Modrow-Bazett Inc. allegedly siphoned money to support other restaurants unaffiliated with Kru, another matter that was resolved with a settlement. Kru’s sister restaurants include Kodaiko Ramen & Bar, Fish Face Poke & Bar and Chu Mai.

Benjy Egel is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged’s weekly food and drink newsletter, City of Treats.