-Photo via z-mation.com

In a sign that small, awkward protests (at least some) can get things done, Tsu Yue Wang, the man who seems to own every Asian restaurant around Columbia, was ordered by the State Labor Department to pay $2.3 million in back wages to hundreds of employees at some of his eateries.

The mysterious closing of Tomo, whose management claims was a result of rising rent and old employees claim had to do with their attempts to unionize, remains an open case. Wang alleges he has no affiliation with Tomo, though business documents indicate otherwise. Tomo now owes 100 workers roughly $1 million in back pay from minimum-wage and overtime violations.

“You start to see a pattern, and it starts to get sickening,” said one investigator to the Times. Funny, that’s true of the food as well.

-DJB