I have been working in a relatively new Japanese restaurant in the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) area for the last few months. I noticed from the beginning how informal the hiring process was: Everybody that was staffed there basically all came from the same province in China and the owner/manager was only hiring very few 'part time' employees (Who were actual taxpaying, US citizens) I was one of the very few people on their part time payroll.

Needless to say, I was the outsider from the very beginning of the restaurant's opening. Yes, I was called in to 'training' on day-one of the restaurant's grand opening. The manager was condescending to me and doubted I could do the job right. Over the next few months I came to realize that I was consistently pulling in the highest tip averages during every lunch shift. The restaurant came close to having very few to zero patrons once dinner time came because the location did not cater to most of the customer base (University of Minnesota employees)

Being the outsider, I had to take orders from management that spoke relatively poorer English and I tried my best to smile through every single shift. The tips we earned per table were completely ours to keep, minus the daily 6% tip-out to kitchen and sushi bars (while the bar already had their own tip jar going) Basically, the more tables you had, their higher chance you have for better tips for the day. This is not even the bad part about the management.

I was constantly forced to take the worst sections of the house, every single week. The pseudo manager in charge (wife of the restaurant owner) kept assigning me low frequency table areas and I would only get tables if enough patrons showed up for lunch. But the hostesses they hired were really great because they evenly distributed the number of customers to each server. Thank goodness they spoke perfect American.

Here comes the really embarrassing part of my job: Every now and then, they hire these new Chinese aliens from out of state to be part of the serving team. They take the better sections and I'm left to handle the 'leftover' sections of the house. The favoritism of this restaurant's management is beyond me. They have such a creepy circle going that I feel constantly disgusted by how poorly they treat 'outsider' employees. It's like, every time something advantageous comes my way, management gets resentful because they feel like I'm cheating them? Actually, I learned that almost 95% of the core staff was somehow related by blood (remember they all came from the same province.) Great, a family business that mistreats certain employees.

Multiple faces have come and gone since I started there from day one. They all complained despite having nicer sections to take care of, that they are not making enough to stay here. Gee, I wonder if, just if, they could do their job like me, maybe their tips would also increase? Why am I the one to take the short end of the stick when basically the entire serving staff ought to be taking notes from me? I had prior serving experience and they would look down on me because I rake in the real tips.

The kitchen side jobs I was asked to do before and after my shift; the gradual cutting of my hours; and finally, unpaid hours: they have on more than one occasion asked me to stay behind after my shift (unpaid) to finish sidework. On top of all this, within 2 months of opening, the state/federal health inspectors already made multiple visits, and guess who is there to translate the grilling? You guessed it! I won't even go into that beast.

Christmas season has arrived, and today was apparently my 'last day working there,' as the manager brought up the subject during my cash out. They will call me again if they need a server. Lol, really? You're going to sacrifice one of your brightest workers for the sake of keeping the money to that new Chinese you just brought in two days ago? Their reason was that "there are no customers now these days because the University is on vacation." Haha, okay, then what do you call these full-houses that we have been having to serve through for the past two weeks? MOST of them certainly do not seem like students to me, but rather middle-aged professionals with suits and ties. Do they also take a month off and not come here to eat like their colleagues do every day?

Bottom line, I feel like I'm being so severely taken advantaged of here that I don't know where else to turn. I cannot afford to do anything now that I don't have this job. Reddit, what do you suppose I can do to get some sense of justice?