LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has launched an education and enforcement initiative on the West Coast and in surrounding areas aimed at ensuring workers at fast food establishments are being paid the proper minimum wage and overtime.

Employer: PR Drywall LLC

Site: 2730 SE 39th Loop Suite E, Hillsboro, Oregon

Employer: C&C Security Inc., doing business as Cast and Crew Security

Site: 438 Hobron Lane #117, Honolulu, HI 96815

Employer: Escalera Landscaping Inc.

Site: 5012 Arville Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89118

ATLANTA – Hotel industry workers typically earn low wages and may struggle financially to meet basic needs. When employers fail to pay them the wages they have legally earned, their struggle gets even harder.

LOS ANGELES – While Southern California Sushi chefs worked up to 90 hours a week painstakingly assembling intricately crafted Godzilla rolls, sashimi assortments and other delicacies at various restaurants, the U.S. Department of Labor found their employer was cheating the chefs and other workers out of overtime pay, shaving hours off timecards and docking their pay routinely for 10-minute breaks.

CHICAGO – A federal judge has ordered a Chicago limo company to pay 34 drivers $190,716 in back wages and an equal additional amount in liquidated damages, totaling $381,432, after finding the company violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer: Chloe Apparel, Inc.

Site: 1143 East 29^th St., Los Angeles, California

Investigation findings: The employer paid straight time for overtime hours worked after 40 hours in a work week. The employer also failed to pay the proper minimum wage to a subset of workers. Both sets of violations fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer: Humanage Acquisitions LLC, doing business as Riverbend Hand Car Wash

Site: 22290 La Palma Avenue, Yorba Linda, California 92887

Date of Action: Dec. 3, 2015

Type of Action: Lawsuit filing

Name of Defendant: Platform Marine Inc., 3431 FM 1685, Victoria, Texas

Employer name: Today’s Generation LLC, doing business as Jaws Shirts & Gifts

Investigation site: 3535 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Employer name: Elk Springs Resort Cabin Rentals LLC  

Investigation site: 1088 Powdermill Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

TULSA, Okla. – A federal judge in Tulsa overturned a jury verdict and ruled that El Tequila LLC and owner Carlos Aguirre willfully violated the minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. El Tequila and Aguirre must pay $2.1 million in back wages and liquidated damages to over 300 vulnerable workers.

Employers: St. James Home for the Elderly, Inc.

Sites:  

RALEIGH, N.C. – Investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division have found violations of the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act at 10 San Jose Mexican Restaurant locations throughout the state. As a result, the restaurants will pay a total of $511,745 in back wages to 125 employees. The division’s Raleigh District Office led the initiative.

Violations found include:

Employer: Taqueria La Herradura LLC

Site: 6613 S. Jackson Rd., Pharr, Texas

Employer name: Financial Carrier Services Inc.

Investigation site: 13325 South Point Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina

Employer: Bonifacio Ontiveros, doing business as Benny’s Tire and Road Service

Site: 31514 Castaic Road, Castaic, California 91384

ATLANTA — U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigations have identified widespread violations of the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act in Georgia's restaurant industry. As a result, restaurants are paying a total of $2,277,480 in back wages and damages to more than 3,000 employees.

Employer name: Vartek LLC

Investigation site: 6715 North 53rd St., Tampa, Florida 33610