April 9, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Dept of Labor secures injunctions ordering Jan Charles Gray, affiliated businesses to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act [04/09/2015]

Employers: Jan Charles Gray, individually and Mount Rushmore Broadcasting, Inc., All American Inn - Glenrock, and American President Resorts.

Sites: Mount Rushmore Broadcasting, Inc., in Casper, Wyoming; All American Inn - Glenrock in Glenrock, Wyoming; and American President Resorts in Custer, South Dakota.

April 9, 2015

WHD News Release: New Jersey employer violates guest worker program, to pay more than $322,000 in back wages and penalties [04/09/2015]

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The owner of two East Rutherford, New Jersey, companies will pay $322,094 in back wages and penalties after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the companies willfully violated a provision of the H-1B visa program, which allows guest workers to be temporarily employed in the United States.

April 8, 2015

WHD News Brief: Saipan hotel to pay more than $117K in back wages to 84 employees [04/08/2015]

Employer: Saipan Hotel Corporation, doing business as Hafadai Beach Hotel

Site: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

April 7, 2015

WHD News Release: Jury awards more than $1.3M in back wages and damages to 101 former employees at defunct Bellingham businesses [04/07/2015]

SEATTLE — Although a Bellingham restaurant and a spa have closed, 101 workers once employed by the businesses will receive more than $1.3 million in back wages and damages, thanks to a Washington State jury. The decision is the result of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that revealed numerous violations of federal labor law.

April 7, 2015

WHD News Brief: Labor Department sues Magic Touch Cleaning, Inc. for back wages and damages due to underpaid janitorial workers [04/07/2015]

Date of Action: March 11, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: MAGIC TOUCH CLEANING, INC. and GARY WALKER, individually.

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found Magic Touch Cleaning Inc., a janitorial services company in Lee's Summit, Missouri, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

April 7, 2015

WHD News Release: Jury awards more than $1.3M in back wages and damages to 101 former employees at defunct Bellingham businesses [04/07/2015]

SEATTLE — Although a Bellingham restaurant and a spa have closed, 101 workers once employed by the businesses will receive more than $1.3 million in back wages and damages, thanks to a Washington State jury. The decision is the result of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that revealed numerous violations of federal labor law.

April 2, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department expands its support of victims of human trafficking and other crimes [04/02/2015]

SEATTLE — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced that the labor department's Wage and Hour Division will begin to exercise its authority to certify applications for trafficking victims seeking "T" visas. The division will also certify "U" visa requests when it detects three additional qualifying criminal activities in the course of its workplace investigations: extortion, forced labor, and fraud in foreign labor contracting. The announcement was made at a roundtable on new American integration in Seattle hosted by OneAmerica.

April 2, 2015

WHD News Release: Honolulu electrical contractor owes workers more than $1.2M in back wages, submits false records and attempts to obstruct investigators [04/02/2015]

HONOLULU — A federal electrical contractor, Lighting Services Inc. will pay 38 electricians/technicians more than $1.2 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigators determined the company did not pay required prevailing wages to workers at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The division also found the employer submitted falsified payrolls and told workers to provide false information to investigators.

April 2, 2015

WHD News Release: Honolulu electrical contractor owes workers more than $1.2M in back wages, submits false records and attempts to obstruct investigators [04/02/2015]

HONOLULU — A federal electrical contractor, Lighting Services Inc. will pay 38 electricians/technicians more than $1.2 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigators determined the company did not pay required prevailing wages to workers at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The division also found the employer submitted falsified payrolls and told workers to provide false information to investigators.

April 2, 2015

WHD News Brief: U.S. Labor Department lawsuit seeks back wages, damages for 2 recreational vehicle technicians in Coloma, Michigan [04/02/2015]

Date of Action: March 30, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Names of Defendants: Krenek Motors Inc., 6542 Ryno Rd, Coloma, MI 49038 d/b/a Krenek RV and Scott Krenek

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Rhode Island restaurant chain to pay over $100K in wages, damages to 32 underpaid employees following US Labor Department investigation [03/31/2015]

Employer name: CMG Holding Company, LLC d/b/a/ Cilantro Mexican Grill.

Investigation sites: 1255 Reservoir Ave., Cranston; 127 Weybosset St, Providence; 430 Newport Ave, Rumford;1650 Mineral Spring Ave, Providence; 166 JT Connell Highway, Newport; 712 Center of New England Boulevard, Coventry; 1759 Post Road, Warwick.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Release: Operator of 70 hotels in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana agrees to change business practices after US Labor Department finds significant wage violations [03/31/2015]

DETROIT — Workers in the hotel industry are hard-working people who make our beds, clean our rooms, maintain the property and greet us with a smile. Many of them earn low wages and often struggle to meet their basic needs. This challenge is made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them for all the hours they worked.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Raymond's to pay more than $325,500 in back wages for overtime, minimum wage violations at Ridgewood and Montclair, NJ, eateries [03/31/2015]

Employer: Raymond's Ridgewood LLC, restaurant owner

Sites: Raymond's restaurants located at 101 East Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, N.J., and 28 Church Street in Montclair, N.J.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Philadelphia-based farm labor contractor ordered to pay $146K in penalties for federal labor violations at Lumberton, New Jersey, nursery [03/31/2015]

Type of Action: Default Judgment

Respondents: Farm labor contractor Heng Heng Agency, Inc., and its owner Visith Oum

March 30, 2015

WHD News Release: US Department of Labor finds oil and gas industry workers in New Mexico, west Texas underpaid by more than $1.3M [03/30/2015]

ALBUQUERQUE — A day's work in an oilfield usually means long hours in physically demanding and exhausting conditions. Industry workers deserve every penny of their hard-earned wages. In the oil-and-gas-rich Southwest, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division is making sure these workers get their pay. Since it launched an enforcement initiative covering New Mexico and west Texas in 2014, the agency has recovered more than $1.3 million owed to more than 1,300 workers.

March 26, 2015

WHD News Release: U.S. Labor Department lawsuit seeks back wages, damages for 34 Chicago limo drivers employed by Town & Country Limousine [03/26/2015]

Date of Action: March 6, 2015

Type of Action: FLSA lawsuit

Names of Defendants: DT & C Global Management LLC d/b/a/ Town & Country Limousine, John Jansen, William Lynch

March 26, 2015

WHD News Release: More than 1,100 New Jersey gas station attendants receive $5.5 million in back wages and damages in US Labor Department enforcement initiative [03/26/2015]

MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. — In the past five years, more than 1,100 attendants at Shell, Exxon, BP and other leading brand gas stations in New Jersey have been denied the minimum wage and, in some cases, overtime pay. These workers have received $5.5 million in back wages and damages recovered thanks to a multiyear enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

March 26, 2015

WHD News Release: More than 1,100 New Jersey gas station attendants receive $5.5 million in back wages and damages in US Labor Department enforcement initiative [03/26/2015]

MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. — In the past five years, more than 1,100 attendants at Shell, Exxon, BP and other leading brand gas stations in New Jersey have been denied the minimum wage and, in some cases, overtime pay. These workers have received $5.5 million in back wages and damages recovered thanks to a multiyear enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

March 25, 2015

WHD News Release: Security firm fails to protect fair wages and benefits of 650 guards in Puerto Rico, owes them nearly $350K in back wages and damages [03/25/2015]

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico — Alpha Guards Management Inc. provides security guards to ensure the safety of employees of businesses and government agencies in Puerto Rico. Yet, the San Juan-based employer failed to protect its own employees by violating their right to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.