By Alex Weidner, CBS 6 Albany WRGB (September 6, 2022 ) –ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — A former Albany restaurant owner is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The complaint from the DOL claims David Ip, the former owner of the Ichiban restaurant, violated federal anti-retaliation provisions.
The agency says Ip shared personal information about three of his employees with a Rensselaer County deputy sheriff–who also worked for Ip’s security business.
That deputy sheriff then allegedly contacted U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement with the sensitive information.
Those workers had filed wage lawsuit against Ip.
The details shared to ICE included when and where the workers would be in Albany for a deposition in that class action suit.
ICE arrested and detained one of those workers during a lunchbreak from that deposition.
David Ip’s Ichiban restaurant on Western Avenue has been closed for several years; there’s another, unrelated Ichiban restaurant on Central Avenue.
The news is first reported on TimesUnion.