Department of Labor suit seeks $47K in back wages, damages from Detroit security company again found shortchanging employees

Employers:    Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC

                        Carla Bland, human resources director

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Investigation findings: On Dec. 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court seeking a total of $47,439 in back wages and liquidated damages for 42 people employed by Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC to provide armed guard services to marijuana dispensaries in metropolitan Detroit area. 

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division alleged the company paid “straight time” for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek when time and one-half their regular hourly rate-of-pay was required from at least October 2021 through April 2022. The company also treated some guards as exempt from overtime, all of which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

In its complaint, the department named the company and its human resources director Carla Bland, who is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations. 

Detroit Body Guards currently owes $25,587 in back wages to employees after the division found the employer shortchanged them from Aug. 11, 2019, through Oct. 10, 2021. In that case, Bland signed an agreement with the department to pay the back wages due and to future FLSA compliance. 

Quote: “Complying with federal wage laws in not an option,” said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Federal regulations protect every worker’s right to be paid for hours they work and the overtime earned. The Department of Labor is committed to showing Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC and other employers who violate the federal wage laws that they will be held accountable.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

United States Department of Labor v. Detroit Body Guards Protection Union LLC, Carla Bland

Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-13175