October 15, 2015

WHD News Brief: OSHA finds improper load rigging caused fatal worker injury in Lincoln, Nebraska [10/15/2015]

Employer name: CBS Pilings Solutions Inc., Riverside, Missouri

Citations received: Oct. 14, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Omaha Area Office cited the drilling contractor for three serious safety violations, after a 42-year-old worker was fatally injured on a job site in Lincoln, Nebraska on June 24, 2015.

October 13, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Labor Department obtains judgment ordering Brooklyn day care chain to pay back wages and not retaliate against employees [10/13/2015]

Employer name: Flowers of the Sun Inc., doing business as Ilene's Sunflower, and Ilene Lieberman

Investigation site: 366 President St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11231

October 8, 2015

WHD News Brief: Lawsuit seeks nearly $60K in back wages and damages for employees of debt settlement service referral company [10/08/2015]

Date of Action: Sept. 16, 2015

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Lawsuit

Names of Defendants: Marketing Solutions Group Inc., d/b/a Wise Debt Relief; d/b/a GoWize; d/b/a Consumers Legal Center and Michael S. Gross

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found Marketing Solutions Group Inc. and its owner, Michael Gross violated the FLSA's overtime and minimum wage provisions.

October 8, 2015

WHD News Brief: Tempe, Arizona medical transport company to pay more than $33K in back wages to 38 drivers and dispatchers [10/08/2015]

Employers: Hope Medical Transportation

Sites: 2231 S. 48th Street, Suite 104, Tempe, Arizona, 85282

Investigation findings: Wage and Hour investigators established that Hope Medical Transportation, a non-emergency medical transportation company, did not pay overtime to workers paid on a salary basis when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The employer failed to keep an accurate record of hours worked, and misclassified most of its drivers as independent contractors until January 2014.

October 6, 2015

WHD News Brief: Florida clothing company, Exist Inc., fails to pay workers overtime pay [10/06/2015]

Employer name: Exist Inc.

Investigation site: 1650 NW 23 Ave, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311

October 6, 2015

WHD News Release: 17 Houlihan's restaurants in New Jersey and New York short workers of tips and wages, US Department of Labor alleges [10/06/2015]

NEWARK, N.J. — Citing "pervasive skimming from employees' tips and wages," the U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Saddle Brook-based company that operates Houlihan's restaurants in New Jersey and New York and their owner for violations of the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

October 6, 2015

WHD News Brief: Tampa, Fla., restaurant denies workers minimum wage and overtime pay [10/06/2015]

Employer name: Wei's Hibachi Buffet LLC, doing business as Hibachi Buffet

Investigation site: 13151 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, Florida 33618

October 1, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Labor Department investigation finds Kentucky non-profit center fails to pay minimum wage to 119 workers with disabilities [10/01/2015]

Employer name: Southwest Center for the Developmentally Disabled Inc.

Investigation site: 8009 Terry Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40258

September 30, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department alleges New Jersey cleaning company misclassified employees as franchisees, denied workers minimum wage and overtime [09/30/2015]

CLARK, N.J. — What appeared to be a franchise opportunity for professional cleaners in New Jersey turned out to be an employer scheme to circumvent the law, leaving cleaning workers making less than federal minimum wage.

September 28, 2015

WHD News Brief: El Potro Mexican Restaurant in Atlanta to pay 10 employees more than $110K in back wages after US Labor Department investigation [09/28/2015]

Employer name: El Potro Inc.

Investigation site: 3396 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30329

September 22, 2015

WHD News Release: Halliburton pays nearly $18.3 million in overtime owed to more than 1,000 employees nationwide after US Labor Department investigation
[09/22/2015]

HOUSTON — In one of the largest recoveries of overtime wages in recent years for the U.S. Department of Labor, oil and gas service provider, Halliburton, has agreed to pay $18,293,557 to 1,016 employees nationwide. The department's Wage and Hour Division investigated Halliburton as part of an ongoing, multi-year compliance initiative in the oil and gas industry in the Southwest and Northeast.

September 22, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department secures nearly $330K in back wages, liquidated damages for employees of restaurants operated by Antico Foods LLC [09/22/2015]

ATLANTA — An Atlanta restauranteur who is alleged to have cheated his workers out of their wages for years and threatened them if they cooperated with federal officials investigating his business conduct, has agreed to pay 60 employees a total of $329,445 in back wages and liquidated damages for violating their wage rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

September 21, 2015

WHD News Brief: Miami health products manufacturer pays more than $145K in back wages after US Labor Department investigation [09/21/2015]

Employer name: Millennium Natural Health Products Inc.

Investigation site: 10575 NW 37th Terrace, Miami, Florida 33178

September 17, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Labor Department investigation finds North Carolina restaurant fails to pay workers minimum wage and overtime [09/17/2015]

Employer name: Fiesta Mexicana LLC, Fiesta Mexicana Restaurante

Investigation site: 957 Town Centre Blvd, Clayton, North Carolina 27520

September 16, 2015

WHD News Brief: Judge orders staffing company to pay $10K in back wages, damages to worker fired for seeking time off under Family and Medical Leave Act [09/16/2015]

Type of Action: Family Medical Leave Act Consent Judgment

Names of Defendants: Management Registry, Inc. doing business as Malone Staffing

September 14, 2015

WHD News Release: Hiep Thai Markets pays more than $416K in back wages to workers following US Labor Department investigation [09/14/2015]

DALLAS — Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division made sure to keep their eyes on the back door when they showed up at Hiep Thai Markets' stores in Garland and Arlington. The business, a repeat violator of federal wage and hour laws, had sent workers out the rear exit previously to keep them from speaking to agents during two prior investigations. Cheating workers out of wages and frustrating investigators seems to be their business practice.

September 9, 2015

WHD News Brief: ResCare Inc. subsidiary in West Virginia ordered to pay nearly $280K in back wages and damages after US Labor Department investigation [09/09/2015]

Employer Name: RSCR West Virginia Inc., doing business as Community Alternatives WV, is a subsidiary of ResCare Inc. that provides home health care for individuals with disabilities throughout West Virginia.

Investigation Site: 305 Water Street, Stonewood, West Virginia, 26301 and locations in Clarksburg, Keyser, Parkersburg, Buckhannon, Huntington, and Charleston, West Virginia.

September 9, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department sues FLDS Church, others for oppressive child labor and other violations; seeks to enforce $1.9M in penalties [09/09/2015]

SALT LAKE CITY — For most children, fall begins a new school year full of possibilities to learn and prepare for their lives ahead and future jobs. Unfortunately, for hundreds of children in southern Utah and northern Arizona, the season is a time for hard work harvesting pecans by hand for commercial sale.