Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
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Manhattan parking garage agrees to pay more than $54,000 in back wages, liquidated damages and penalties to settle US Labor Department lawsuit
NEW YORK -- A federal district court has ordered Park It Management Inc., a New York City parking garage company, to pay 14 employees nearly $48,000 in back wages and liquidated damages, along with civil money penalties, to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging willful violations of the overtime pay and recordkeeping provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The Labor Department filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Park It Management Inc., doing business as a parking garage located at 250 W. 26 St. in Manhattan, and against the company’s owner, Gary Spindler. An investigation conducted by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division disclosed that the company had willfully and repeatedly violated the FLSA by requiring employees to work more than 40 hours in many weeks without paying them full and fair compensation for all hours worked, and by failing to maintain proper records of the number of hours worked by employees and the compensation they were paid.
“The defendants were well aware that what they were doing was against the law, yet they continued to deny low-wage workers their rightful overtime compensation,” said Maria Rosado, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Manhattan, which investigated this case. “The ruling we’ve obtained against Park It Management demonstrates just how committed the Labor Department is to enforcing the FLSA and pursuing employers who fail to pay workers their full wages, as guaranteed by law.”
The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well as one and one-half times their regular hourly rates for every hour they work beyond 40 per week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment, and prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law.
A consent judgment, entered by the court, permanently prohibits the defendants from future violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and anti-retaliation requirements. The judgment orders the defendants to pay a total of $47,778 owed in back wages, damages and interest in accordance with a payment schedule. If the defendants fail to make any of the payments in a timely manner, the court will appoint a receiver with the power to seize and liquidate their assets to satisfy the order. The judgment also orders the defendants to pay the Labor Department civil money penalties totaling $6,545. The defendants agreed to entry of the judgment without admitting or denying the violations alleged in the department’s complaint.
Additionally, the defendants have been ordered to place copies of the FLSA poster titled “Employee Rights Under The Fair Labor Standards Act” where all employees may view them, as well as to orally inform employees in English and Spanish of their rights under the FLSA, the terms of the judgment and the rights of employees to engage in activity protected by the act without fear of retaliation.
The Wage and Hour Division’s New York City District Office conducted the investigation, and the case was litigated by the New York City office of the Labor Department’s regional solicitor. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the division’s New York City office at 212-264-8185. Information is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol/gov/whd.
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