KANSAS CITY, KS – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against the owner of two Kansas restaurants who allegedly denied minimum and overtime wages to kitchen staff, servers, hosts and food runners after some worked as many as 66 hours per week.

Date of Action:          March 13, 2023

Type of Action:         Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

Company/Owners:    GEM Interiors Inc., Milford, Ohio

LOS ANGELES – A survey of Southern California garment-sewing contractors and manufacturers by the U.S. Department of Labor has found workers making garments sold by many of the nation’s leading fashion retailers often continue to be victims of wage theft and employers’ illegal pay practices.

Employer:  Force Construction Company Inc., Columbus, Indiana

Investigation findings:  U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators recovered $46,125 in back wages for 35 employees after evaluating the company’s pay practices on 10 government contracts.

NEW CASTLE, PA – A federal investigation into why a 17-year-old worker – who fell 24 feet from the roof of a New Castle, Pennsylvania, home improvement store in October 2022 – was doing work that violated child labor laws led to a wider review into how the roofing contractor failed to pay 30 employees their full wages and exposed other workers to dangerous fall hazards.

Employer:  Ameritalia LLC, operating as Coco’s Italian Market and Restaurants                                                           

Investigation site: 411 51st Avenue N., Nashville, TN 37209

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has requested that a federal court in Vermont allow the department to intervene and seek the court’s dismissal of a counterclaim that Bimbo Bakeries USA Inc. – one of the nation’s largest baking companies – has asserted against its own workers who are seeking the overtime compensation that they are allegedly owed.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit asking a federal court to stop a Brooklyn, New York, healthcare staffing provider from allegedly making employees sign contracts that would force them to work for the company for three years or repay rightfully earned wages.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $633,029 in back wages for 84 workers denied their full wages and benefits by subcontractors involved in construction of an affordable housing development funded by the District of Columbia.

SAN DIEGO - En su esfuerzo continuo por combatir los abusos hacia los trabajadores extranjeros por parte de las industrias de logística y almacenamiento en el sur de California, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha recuperado $1.1 millones de dos empresas que operan en la zona de San Diego (Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. y ACV Logistics Inc.) para 50 ciudadanos mexicanos a quienes solo se les pagaba $2.43 por hora.

SAN DIEGO – In its continuing effort to combat labor abuses of foreign workers in Southern California’s logistics and warehousing industries, the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $1.1 million from two companies operating in the San Diego area – Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. and ACV Logistics Inc. – for 50 Mexican nationals, some paid as little as $2.43 an hour.

ALGOOD, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $42,373 for 44 employees after finding an Algood restaurant illegally kept tips that employees earned.

Employer name:                   Amazing Grace PCA LLC

Investigation site:                7321 Bullard Ave.

                                                          Orleans, LA 70128

BIRMINGHAM, AL - El trabajo en una instalación de captura de aves de corral es duro, donde las personas se enfrentan comúnmente a los riesgos de trabajar con equipos peligrosos, en suelos resbaladizos, alrededor de productos químicos peligrosos, y están expuestos a la posibilidad de enfermedad para aquellos que manipulan aves vivas y los residuos y el polvo que producen.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – Work in a poultry catching facility is hard, where people commonly face the risks of working with dangerous equipment, on slippery floors, around hazardous chemicals, and are exposed to the possibility of illness for those handling live birds and the waste and dust they produce. Standing for long hours also greatly increases the risks of musculoskeletal disorders.

HONOLULU – A Honolulu substance abuse treatment facility must pay a total of $451,989 in back wages to 34 substance use disorder counselors and kitchen, clerical, maintenance and administrative staff after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the center’s illegal pay practices. In some cases, the facility paid workers providing patient care and other services as little as $400 per month.

BROOKEVILLE, MD – A federal investigation found Dunkin franchise locations in Maryland and West Virginia allowed 19 minors to work in violation of child labor laws, leading the employer to accept responsibility for the offenses and to sign an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to prevent future violations at its eight locations in three states.

SPRINGDALE, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order that recovers $19,934 in back wages and damages from an Ohio home healthcare and adult daycare service provider who denied seven employees overtime wages and failed to properly pay in-home workers when clients’ needs disrupted their sleep time.

Employer:  Perry County Hospital, Tell City, Indiana

Investigation findings:  U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators recovered $60,254 in overtime back wages for 107 nurses at Perry County Hospital. Investigators determined the hospital violated the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations when the facility:

GLENDALE, AZ - El Departamento de Trabajo se encuentra distribuyendo más de $700,000 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios a 470 empleados, recuperados de una empresa de enyesado de Glendale tras una investigación y demanda relacionada con las prácticas de pago del empleador.