US Department of Labor investigation, litigation recovers $108K in back wages, damages for 47 workers employed by Rhode Island contractors

Date of action:                       Sept. 28, 2023            

Type of action:                     Consent judgment and order 

Names of defendants:           Lonsdale Construction Inc. doing business as Lonsdale Construction, Lonsdale Concrete Floors Inc. doing business as Lonsdale Concrete, AJ Concrete Pumping Service Inc. doing business as AJ Concrete Pumping, Joseph Almeida and Jose Almeida. 

Address:                                 201 Broad St., Cumberland, Rhode Island 02864

Background:                          An investigation by the Providence area office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that the employers, residential concrete foundation and structure contractors, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act between Sept. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022, by failing to pay employees time and a-half their regular rates-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek and did not make, keep and preserve records of employees’ hours worked. 

Resolution:                             The consent judgment and order recovered a total of $108,088 – $54,044 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – for 47 workers. The employers also paid $35,567 in civil money penalties to the department given the violations’ willful and repeat nature. The court also forbid them from future FLSA overtime, recordkeeping and retaliation violations and requires them to cooperate with any future investigations.

Court:                                    U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Docket Number:                   Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-397-WES-PAS

Quotes:                                   “Construction is challenging work for which employees should receive all the wages they are due. In cases like these, employers who shortchange their employees willfully and repeatedly will face costly consequences,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Donald Epifano in Hartford, Connecticut. “The Wage and Hour Division encourages workers to contact us if they believe their employer is not paying them all of their earned wages. We also provide numerous tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with the law.”

                                                “This outcome should remind employers that the U.S. Department of Labor will take action, including litigation, on behalf of workers when employers deny them wages required by federal law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston.

                                                Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices — also available in Spanish — to ensure hours and pay are accurate.