GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against the operator and owner of four western Michigan 7-Eleven convenience stores after an investigation found payroll records were inaccurate, paid employees “off the books” and failed to pay them overtime.

WEST COVINA, CA – Un tribunal federal emitió sentencias que requieren que los operadores de la planta procesadora de aves de corral en La Puente paguen más de $1 millón después de que el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. encontró que los empleadores negaron deliberadamente salarios por horas extra a 113 trabajadores y trataron de ocultar el robo de salario.

WEST COVINA, CA – A federal court has entered default judgments that require the operators of La Puente poultry processing plant to pay more than $1 million after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employers deliberately denied overtime wages earned by 113 workers and tried to hide the wage theft.

KANSAS CITY, MO – An Oklahoma construction contractor entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay $370,660 in criminal and civil penalties to avoid federal prosecution on one count of ignoring federal safety regulations that resulted in a worker fatality in St. Joseph in 2019.

CHICAGO – A Chicago food service provider for major airlines has agreed to reimburse $134,222 to participants in the company’s employee health plan after federal investigators found the employer improperly charged employees deductibles for certain diagnostic tests and wrongly imposed tobacco surcharges.

MILTON, PA – U.S. Department of Labor investigations found a Pennsylvania manufacturer of steel containers exposed employees to a wide range of safety and health hazards at its Milton facility.

Employers:    Reliance Staffing LLC; Fahim Uddin, owner

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan 

Employers:    Cascabel Ventures LLC 

                         Owner Adam Baru

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan 

Date of action:                       Sept. 7, 2023

Type of action:                      U.S. Department of Labor complaint, request for temporary restraining order

Names of defendants:           Battle Fish North

                                                Magnolia Processing Inc.

                                                William Houston Battle Sr. 

Employers:    Sparty Tacos LLC

                        TC Tacos LLC

                        GR Tacos LLC, operating as Barrio Tacos

                        Owner Jacob Hawley

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division    

MILLERSBURG, OH – On four occasions in less than three months in 2023, U.S. Department of Labor inspectors observed a Millersburg roofing contractor again exposing workers to deadly fall hazards of up to 19 feet at four residential roofing job sites in Canton, Uniontown and Westlake, despite having fall protection equipment available on site. 

NORRISTOWN, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment ordering a Norristown restaurant and its owners to pay $252,579 in back wages and liquidated damages to 21 employees, an action that follows a federal investigation that found the employers denied proper overtime pay intentionally.

Employers:    Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor invites outstanding recent law school graduates with a passion for public service to apply for its two-year Honors Program and earn unique experience in one of the federal government’s preeminent legal offices.

FILADELFIA - Una investigación federal de las prácticas de pago de un mayorista de Filadelfia ha llevado al Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. para obtener una sentencia acordada en un tribunal federal, la cual exige que las empresas paguen $419,615 a 21 personas empleadas a quienes se les negó deliberadamente los salarios por horas extras.

PHILADELPHIA – A federal investigation of the pay practices of a Philadelphia wholesaler has led the U.S. Department of Labor to obtain a consent judgment in federal court, requiring the employers to pay $419,615 to 21 workers deliberately denied overtime wages.

Date of Action:          Aug. 30, 2023

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act complaint filing

Company/Owners:   Virtual Matrix Corp.

Suman Thotakura

Virtual Matrix 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment to recover $153,768 for four people whose former employer abandoned its employee retirement plan more than two decades ago, leaving no one to administer the plan and authorize distribution of its funds, a violation of federal law.

CHICAGO – A federal court has ordered the operators of a Huntley restaurant to pay eight employees more than $105,000 in back wages and damages, despite the employers’ attempt to interfere with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found they illegally denied the workers their earned overtime wages.

BOSTON – In early June 2022, an employee of a Vermont company that sells and services agricultural equipment observed their employer pumping wastewater from the facility’s service bays onto the ground bordering the Winooski River in Berlin. The employee reported their concerns about the potential harm to the river, first to supervisors and then to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.