The bosses of one of London’s Chinatown restaurants, the Wong Kei, have accepted an undisclosed libel damages pay-out and a public apology for an article in the London Evening Standard in October.
The piece, headlined “Chinatown exposed”, alleged that food, health and safety regulations were being disregarded and illegal immigrants were being exploited.
Solicitor Adele Ashton for Princevale, the company that operates the restaurant, and managers Lok Tin Fung, Richard Duong and Chun YukMan, told Mr Justice Gray at London’s High Court the article indicated that illegal immigrants were paid “way below the minimum wage” and forced to work unreasonably long hours.
“The truth is that these allegations are false and the claimants comply with all relevant food, health and safety and employment regulations,” said Ashton.
She added that the managers of the Wong Kei had been “hurt and distressed” by the article.
For the Standard , which will also pay the claimants’ legal costs, solicitor Lorna Caddy told the judge the newspaper accepted the allegations were false.
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