December 2, 2015

WHD News Brief: Phoenix-area restaurants to pay more than $105K in overtime back wages and damages to 19 employees working at three locations [12/02/2015]

Employer: Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #1, LLC, Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #2, LLC and Twisted Grove #1, LLC

Sites: Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #1 (8120 N. Hayden, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258); Grassroots Kitchen and Tap #2 (2119 East Camelback Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85016); and Twisted Grove Parlor and Bar (8220 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258)

December 1, 2015

WHD News Brief: Puerto Rico security guard company to pay more than $166K in back wages, liquidated damages to 243 employees misclassified as independent contractors [12/01/2015]

Date of action: Oct. 30, 2015

Type of action: Consent Judgment

Names of defendant: Optimus Investigations Corp. and Jorge Rivera Berrios

November 30, 2015

OSHA News Brief: US Labor Department investigation reveals Athens Rehab and Senior Care in Alabama failed to pay overtime [11/30/2015]

Employer name: Best Health LLC, doing business as Athens Rehab and Senior Care

Investigation site: 6111 West Market St, Athens, Alabama 35611

November 24, 2015

WHD News Brief: U.S. Labor Department secures a seven-year debarment against an unregistered farm labor contractor in Hawaii [11/24/2015]

Employer: Tomasa Rincon-Ibarra, as an individual, and doing business as Tomasita Farm Service

Site: Holualoa, Hawaii

November 24, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department secures nearly $290K in back wages, damages for employees of La Bella Vida Assisted Living Facility [11/24/2015]

TAMPA, Fla. — La Bella Vida Assisted Living Facility Inc., a Tampa business, and its owner, Mavel Infante, are paying $287,087 in back wages and liquidated damages to 20 workers. Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued a judgment against the firm and its owner on Nov. 17.

November 24, 2015

WHD News Release: Middlefield, Ohio, pallet maker fined for illegally employing 14-year-old to operate machine, resulting in hand amputation [11/24/2015]

MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio — A teenage worker's life was altered forever when his Middlefield employer illegally allowed him to operate a wood planer, which amputated a 14-year-old's hand.

November 24, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Labor Department's investigation of Trademark Garage Floors Inc. in Florida yields nearly $42K in back wages for 22 employees [11/24/2015]

Employer name: Trademark Garage Floors Inc.

Investigation site: 5839 Trouble Creek Road, New Port Richey, Florida 34652

November 19, 2015

WHD News Brief: Saipan office supply retailer to pay more than $30K in back wages to nine employees following US Labor Department investigation [11/19/2015]

Employers: Sun & Surf Limited, doing business as National Office Supply

Site: P.O. Box 5779 CHRB Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands 96950

November 19, 2015

WHD News Release: Nursing home staffing agency ordered to pay more than $636K in back wages to at least 150 direct care staff at 10 New Jersey nursing homes [11/19/2015]

HACKENSACK, N.J. — A federal judge has ordered Broadway Healthcare Management LLC and its owner, Michael Konig, to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in denied overtime pay plus an additional amount in interest to at least 150 direct care staff who worked at 10 nursing homes throughout New Jersey.

November 18, 2015

WHD News Brief: Phoenix foster care housing provider ordered to pay more than $186K in back wages to 98 workers wrongly classified as 'exempt' from overtime [11/18/2015]

Employer: Family Support Resources Inc.

Sites: 24 residential foster care housing sites throughout Phoenix metro area

November 17, 2015

WHD News Brief: Florida Dept. of Corrections to pay 294 health care workers more than $723K in back wages after failing to pay overtime [11/17/2015]

Employer name: Florida Dept. of Corrections

Investigation site: Prison health units throughout the State of Florida

November 17, 2015

WHD News Release: MARTA repeatedly violated federal leave protections affecting more than 70 workers, US Labor Department finds [11/17/2015]

ATLANTA — For the second time, federal investigators have found the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority violated employees' rights to take unpaid, job-protected leave for a qualifying medical or family issue.

A follow-up investigation to one conducted in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the city's mass transit system, known as MARTA, violated its workers' rights to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act — a law since 1993.

November 16, 2015

WHD News Brief: US Labor Department investigation finds over 450 Family and Medical Leave Act violations at St. Mary's Health Care System Inc. in Athens, Georgia[11/16/2015]

Employer name: St. Mary's Health Care System Inc.

Investigation site: 1230 Baxter St., Athens, Georgia 30606

November 12, 2015

WHD News Release: News Release: Farmer, staffing firm debarred from H-2A visa program after falsifying documents for temporary, foreign workers at Volga, South Dakota, dairy [11/12/2015]

VOLGA, S.D. — A federal administrative law judge upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation that led to the debarment of a Volga dairy farmer and an Aberdeen-based employment agency from a program that allows employers to hire temporary foreign labor for agricultural work. The judge also agreed that the dairy farmer owed $38,173 in wages to 15 U.S. workers after the domestic employees received lower earnings than the foreign workers.

November 3, 2015

WHD News Brief: Court orders Ideal Discount Market in New Orleans to pay employees $403K in overtime back wages [11/03/2015]

Date of Action: Nov. 3, 2015

Type of Action: Consent Judgment

Name of Defendant: Ideal Discount Market, 250 S. Broad Inc. doing business as Ideal Discount Market; Kaki and Son LLC doing business as Ideal Market #6; Kaki Inc. doing business as Ideal Discount Market #1; Morales Brothers LLC doing business as Ideal Market; Rampart Fuel LLC doing business as Ideal Market; and P.R. Enterprises Inc. doing business as Ideal Discount Market #4; and two individuals Muwafak "Mike" Kaki and Gassan "Jimmy" Kaki.

November 2, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division opens new office in Helena, Montana [11/02/2015]

HELENA, Mont. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has opened a new field office in Helena to connect employees, employers, community organizations and other stakeholders with resources and assistance to ensure compliance with federal labor laws. The new office is located in the Max Baucus Federal Building, at 10 West 15th St., Suite 1800, Helena, MT 59626.

October 28, 2015

WHD News Brief: Department of Labor sues MOBIS North America for firing worker seeking time off under Family and Medical Leave Act [10/28/2015]

Type of Action: Family and Medical Leave Act Complaint Filing

Names of Defendants: MOBIS North America LLC

Complaint: The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal court seeking reinstatement, back wages and employment benefits of approximately $100,000 and an equal amount in liquidated damages for an automotive plant worker fired by MOBIS North America LLC in Toledo.

October 28, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department offers free compliance assistance seminars in November for Florida agricultural employers, farm labor contractors [10/28/2015]

TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will host free compliance assistance seminars for Florida agricultural employers and farm labor contractors to help promote compliance with the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the H-2A temporary worker program.

October 27, 2015

WHD News Release: J&J Snack Foods pays more than $2.1M in back wages, damages to 677 temporary workers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania [10/27/2015]

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — Two federal investigations have found that temporary production line workers at J&J Snack Foods Corp., a leading North American manufacturer and distributor of popular food and beverages, were significantly cheated out of their wages by the company and two staffing firms hired to provide the workers.

October 26, 2015

WHD News Release: Buffet restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, agrees to pay more than $227K in back wages, interest to 13 kitchen workers [10/26/2015]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — For the kitchen workers at an Alexandria restaurant, making ends meet was a never-ending challenge, and working long, exhausting hours didn't help.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that Wah Feng LLC, doing business as Win Buffet, a full-service buffet restaurant in Alexandria, did not pay employees minimum wage and overtime, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.