Konstantin Howard was excited at the promise of a job at STK Steakhouse, a buzzy international chain opening a location in San Francisco. At a summer job training, he heard stories of booming sales at the combination steak house-nightclub and lucrative employee bonuses.
But working at the San Francisco restaurant at 1 Market St., he said, turned out to be anything but exciting. Howard and three other STK Steakhouse employees filed a class-action lawsuit on Friday accusing the restaurant of wage theft, illegal tip distribution and a “toxic workplace culture of openly telling employees that they are replaceable.”
In interviews with The Chronicle, six current and former workers, three of whom are named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, described a stressful and “dehumanizing” workplace that left them feeling aggrieved.
Some said they have worked as long as 14 hours with no overtime pay and were reprimanded by managers when they asked to take breaks. A bartender said she was forced to work despite showing her bosses a positive COVID-19 test; another said he was infected by a manager who worked while positive for the virus. A Sept. 23 petition signed by 25 front-of-house employees and sent to STK Steakhouse management demanded transparency in tipping practices and a designated break room.
“It’s the first time in my life I felt like I’m a slave,” said Howard, who’s worked in San Francisco restaurants since 2018. “I call it abuse — (of) money, time, all of it.”
STK Steakhouse did not...
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