Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
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US Labor Department sues Nashua, NH, painting contractor and company officers for not paying workers minimum wage and overtime
Suit seeks back wages, liquidated damages from Kevin Corriveau Painting
CONCORD, N.H. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Kevin Corriveau Painting Inc. of Nashua, company owner and President Kevin Corriveau, Vice President Brian Corriveau and Treasurer Sharon Mercuri for alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions.
The department’s suit is based on an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division that found the defendants had willfully and repeatedly violated the FLSA. Investigators found that the employer did not compensate some employees for all hours worked, did not pay proper overtime rates for hours worked over 40 in a week and, in certain workweeks, paid several employees on a “piece-rate” basis that amounted to less than the required federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The employer also failed to create and maintain records of workers’ wages, work hours and other conditions of employment, and on at least one occasion required employees to alter and rewrite their timecards to show only non-overtime hours worked, in violation of the FLSA’s record-keeping provisions.
“The Wage and Hour Division has investigated Kevin Corriveau Painting on several previous occasions for similar FLSA violations. Despite prior commitments to maintain compliance with the law, this employer continues to pursue a number of strategies to avoid paying its hardworking employees properly,” said Daniel Cronin, the division’s assistant district director in Manchester. “We will not tolerate these actions and, as demonstrated by the filing of this lawsuit, the Labor Department will use all enforcement tools available to recover workers’ wages and hold employers accountable who demonstrate a clear disregard for the law.”
The department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. The suit asks the court to order the defendants to pay the full amount of back wages due plus an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers. The suit also seeks to have the defendants permanently prohibited from future FLSA violations.
The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour as well as time and one-half their regular 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.
For more information about the FLSA, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or its Manchester Area Office at 603-666-7716. Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
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