CHICAGO – A federal judge has ordered Mariusz Lekarczyk, the owner and operator of four Chicago-area We Wash Hand Wash and Car Detail Centers, and We Wash Car Care Center Inc. to pay $799,566 in back wages and damages to 110 employees and $110,990 in penalties to the U.S. Department of Labor, as part of a consent judgment and order obtained by the department. 

On September 19, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago ordered Lekarczyk and his company to pay the back wages owed by May 1, 2025 and penalties by August 1, 2025. The employer must immediately display posters and provide information to employees about their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The court’s action was spurred by the filing of a complaint in district court after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division discovered Lekarczyk did not pay workers overtime at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek or keep records of payments to workers, as required. The division found violations at the company’s Chicago locations at 2042 S. Halsted St. and 4660 W. Lawrence Ave. from at least June 23, 2020, to June 22, 2022, and at their 2744 Skokie Valley Road, Highland Park and 5600 New Wilke Road, Rolling Meadows locations between Oct. 21, 2020, and Oct. 20, 2022.

The complaint alleges Lekarczyk and his company paid workers by check for the first 40 hours they worked, then paid for overtime hours in cash at straight time without the overtime rates. 

The Halsted and Lawrence locations were previously investigated by the division in 2013, where similar overtime violations were found.

“The recovery of these rightfully earned wages will have a tremendous impact on the employees who earned them and sends a clear message to all employers that we will not tolerate an employer’s failure to pay overtime,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Tom Gauza in Chicago. “We appreciate the court’s support in the Department of Labor’s fight on behalf of workers and in holding employers legally accountable.”

“The U.S. Department of Labor will take all necessary legal actions – including recovering back wages, seeking damages and assessing penalties – to hold employers who violate the law accountable,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Z. Heri in Chicago.

The department’s compliance guide explains employees’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

DOL v. We Wash Car Care Center Inc., d/b/a We Wash, Mariusz Lekarczyk, owner

Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-06259

Employer:      Angry Fish Sushi Inc.

                        16250 E 14th St.

San Leandro, CA 94578

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the employer failed to pay overtime rates to employees paid in cash for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators also found the restaurant paid a day-rate to others without regard for the number of hours worked for purposes of overtime pay requirements and failed to pay for some hours worked, which caused minimum wage violations. They also determined the owner and a manager kept a portion of employees’ tips, a common restaurant industry violation.

Wages, Damages Recovered:                       $21,937 in back wages for 24 workers

                                                                        $21,937 in liquidated damages for 24 workers

 Civil Money Penalties Assessed:                  $7,806 in penalties

Quote: “The U.S. Department of Labor will do all that’s needed to protect restaurant workers from being exploited by employers who deny them their earned overtime and steal their hard-earned wages and tips,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Francisco Ocampo in San Jose, California. “The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate this type of misbehavior and hurtful labor practices.”

Background: Incorporated in 2015, Angry Fish Sushi is a Japanese dine-in restaurant. 

Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

NEW ORLEANS –Renowned for its food and restaurant options, New Orleans’ economy depends on the city’s service workers, including 359 people employed by five restaurants that, U.S. Department of Labor investigators found, made illegal wage deductions and paid them less than minimum wage. 

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Bobby Hebert’s Cajun Cannon, the Hideout Bar, Mambo’s, Oceana Grill, and the Olde NOLA Cookery deducted the cost of uniforms, order errors, liquor shortages, customer walk-outs and customer credit card disputes from employees’ wages in violation of federal regulations. 

The investigation recovered $109,154, including $54,577 in back wages and an equal amount in damages - for the tipped servers and bartenders. The investigations are part of an ongoing enforcement initiative by the division to identify violations in the restaurant industry and recover back wages. If warranted, the division will recover damages and assess civil money penalties. 

“Many restaurant and hospitality workers depend on their wages and tips to support their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Employers who make deductions to cover business expenses often reduce wages paid to the workers below the federal minimum wage, causing workers financial hardship and creating costly consequences for employers.”

The restaurants are owned and operated by a father and son and registered under the following company names: Cajun Conti LLC, Cajun Bourbon LLC, Cajun House LLC, Cajun Vets LLC and Cajun 417 LLC.

In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $29.6 million in back wages for nearly 26,000 food service workers and assessed more than $6.1 million in penalties.

For more information about the Fair Labor Standards Act and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline confidentially at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where they are from. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.         

Employer:      Humberto Castaneda Produce

                        2859 Fulton Road

Fulton, CA 95439 

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found grower Humberto Castaneda Produce violated numerous requirements under the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program. Investigators found the employer paid higher rates to workers with H-2A visas than to local workers, failed to provide tools, meals or kitchen facilities to workers, housed workers in dilapidated trailers not up to code and did not reimburse inbound and outbound transportation costs. Additionally, the grower did not secure safe transportation, used uncertified drivers lacking licenses and paid workers below the promised rate on their contract.

Wages Recovered/Penalties Assessed:        $31,102 in back wages for 23 workers.

                                                                        $18,154 in civil money penalties.

Quote: “Humberto Castaneda Produce knew the requirements of the H-2A program but chose to violate the rights of guest and local workers by failing to provide full wages and safe housing and transportation,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Francisco Ocampo in San Jose, California. “Thanks to our investigation, these workers will receive the wages and benefits to which they are entitled.”

Background: Humberto Castaneda Produce is an agricultural employer specializing in growing various types of vegetables, including serrano and jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, squash and wine grapes. The company owns and operates fields in Sonoma County and was established in 1988. The grower supplies produce to large clients such as Safeway supermarkets and to small, local grocers.

Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

This news release is also available in Spanish.    

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $227,834 in back wages from the owner and operator of a Happy Lamb Hot Pot franchise in Grand Prairie that denied 47 restaurant workers required minimum and overtime wages and illegally allowed a manager to keep a portion of servers’ tips.

The recovery follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division of Xfy Time Square LLC that found the employer violated federal regulations when it did the following:

• Paid the affected workers for scheduled hours but did not calculate actual hours worked, which led to overtime and, in some cases, minimum wage violations. 
• Incorrectly paid the restaurant’s cooks straight-time rates for overtime hours worked.
• Allowed the general manager to include himself in the front-of-house workers’ tip pool illegally.

“Far too often, our investigators find restaurant industry workers falling victim to wage theft,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “Employers must pay workers all of their rightful wages, including overtime when required and tips earned for serving customers. The outcome in this case should remind all employers that wage violations can have very costly consequences.”

The Happy Lamb Hot Pot investigation in Grand Prairie is part of the division’s ongoing enforcement initiative to identify wage violations in the restaurant industry and recover back wages. The division will also recover damages and assess civil money penalties if warranted.

In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $29.6 million in back wages for nearly 26,000 food service workers and assessed more than $6.1 million in penalties.

Xfy Time Square LLC owns and operates the Happy Lamb Hot Pot location in Grand Prairie under license with Happy Lamb Investment International Ltd., based in Inner Mongolia, China. The company licenses the Happy Lamb Hot Pot brand to independent owners and operators of more than 100 locations in the U.S. in California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington and in 11 countries. 

For more information about the Fair Labor Standards Act and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.         

PHILADELPHIA – Pennsylvania State University will pay $703,742 in back wages and interest and enter into a conciliation agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve alleged gender pay discrimination against female employees.

Based on a compliance review by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the agency found that, since at least July 1, 2020, Penn State allegedly paid 65 women employees less than men holding similar positions in facilities operations and maintenance, extension education and senior administration jobs. This also included some female faculty in research professor roles at the College of Engineering and the Applied Research Laboratory and some female faculty in teaching professor roles at the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. 

“The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ensures that federal contractors provide workplaces free from discrimination. Penn State must make certain its employment practices comply with all federal law, including those that seek to eliminate gender-based barriers to equal employment,” remarked Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program Acting Director Michele Hodge.

In addition to paying the back wages, Penn State agreed to take steps to make sure its compensation practices and policies are free from discrimination. 

The university’s actions violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. 

“Employers that hold federal contracts must provide all employees with equal employment opportunities and audit their employment processes to make certain no barriers to equal employment exist,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Samuel B. Maiden in Philadelphia. 

The state’s largest public university, Penn State is among the nation’s biggest and best-known universities. In 2024, Penn State received more than $178 million in payments from federal contracts with agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the departments of Defense and Agriculture. 

OFCCP launched the Class Member Locator to identify applicants or workers who may be entitled to monetary relief and/or consideration for job placement because of OFCCP’s compliance evaluations and complaint investigations. If you think you may be an affected class member employed at Penn State during the investigative period, use OFCCP’s Class Member Locator to learn more about this and other settlements. 

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. Together, these laws prohibit employment discrimination.

Learn more about OFCCP.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal court against a Jefferson City buffet restaurant and its owner, after investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found servers worked for tips only and cooks were paid a set cash salary regardless of how many hours they worked, leading to violations of minimum wage or overtime regulations. 

Filed on September 17, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Central Division against Dragon Kitchen of Jefferson City and its owner Danny Cheng, the lawsuit seeks $1,871,840 – representing $935,920 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages ‒ for the 26 affected workers. The department also assessed a civil money penalty of $35,672 for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

 The action comes after the department’s Wage and Hour Division found, from at least Dec. 21, 2021, through July 31, 2024, the employer violated federal regulations by doing the following: 

• Paying cooks and other back-of-the-house employees straight-time pay rates when overtime wages should have been paid. 
• Failing to pay servers and other front-of-the-house employees the required minimum wage and overtime pay. Paying servers only the tips they received. 
• Not maintaining complete and accurate time records, as required.  

“Allowing servers to work for tips only and pay a set cash wage to cooks blatantly violates federal wage law. All too often, our food service industry investigations find employers violating federal overtime, minimum wage and recordkeeping regulations. At the same time, workers are unaware of their rights and afraid to question their paychecks’ accuracy,” said Wage and Hour District Director Noah Lee in St. Louis, Missouri. “The Department of Labor will continue to hold employers accountable for verifying that they are paying workers as the law requires and make sure every worker is paid what they rightfully earned.” 

 In addition to paying back wages, damages and penalties, the lawsuit seeks to forbid Dragon Kitchen and Cheng from future FLSA violations and requires them to provide employees information on their federal wage protections in languages employees’ request. 

In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $29 million in back wages for food service industry workers nationwide. 

 The division’s restaurant compliance toolkit explains wage laws for employers and workers. 

 Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. 

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate. 

U.S. Department of Labor v. Dragon Kitchen of Jefferson City, Danny Cheng

Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-04167-WJE

LAS VEGAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment recovering $550,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 614 employees from a Las Vegas construction company whose pay practices deprived the workers of their full wages.

Entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, the judgment follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined Colvin Construction Inc. attempted to avoid paying overtime by failing to combine all hours worked by employees. While workers often averaged 55 hours per week, investigators found the employer failed to pay workers the required overtime rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

In addition to the recovery of $275,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for the workers, the judgment orders Colvin Construction to pay $10,000 in penalties for the willful nature of its violations and permanently forbids the employer from future FLSA violations.

The judgment also orders Colvin Construction to do the following: 

• Accurately record all hours worked by employees, their rates of pay for each hour, their total straight-time weekly earnings and premium pay for overtime hours worked.
• Implement a timekeeping system that permits employees, as opposed to supervisors, to track their individual work hours daily.
• Maintain all time, piece-rate and payroll records for a period of not less than three years.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is determined to defend the rights of construction workers to receive the entire amount of their wages and will use all tools available to seek justice,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Gene Ramos in Las Vegas. “Employers can’t dodge paying overtime by willfully ignoring the number of hours their employees work. The results of our investigation brought this employer into compliance, leveled the playing field and recovered workers’ wages.”

The Wage and Hour Division’s Las Vegas District Office conducted the investigation. The regional Office of the Solicitor in San Francisco obtained the judgment in court.

“This judgment reflects our commitment to do everything we are able to protect the rights of workers to receive their full earnings in the Nevada construction industry,” explained Regional Solicitor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Thanks to the results of this case, hundreds of piece rate construction workers will receive their back wages and an equal amount in damages for what they had to endure.”  

Incorporated in Nevada in 2014, Colvin Construction provides drywall and plastering services to residential and commercial customers. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

This news release is  also available in Spanish.   

BOSTON – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $77,206 in back wages for five workers employed on a federally funded construction project after finding one subcontractor failed to pay prevailing wages and fringe benefits and another submitted falsified payroll records.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that two Massachusetts contractors – Claras Construction Inc. and Westview Building Company Inc. – violated the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts while working on a project for the Brookline Housing Authority in 2023. Prime contractor Daniel O’Connell’s Sons Inc. of Holyoke subcontracted to Westview Building Company which, in turn, subcontracted with Claras Construction for framing work.

The department discovered Claras Construction of Malden did not pay the required prevailing wage rate and fringe benefits to its workers and failed to create and maintain accurate payroll records. The department also determined Westview Building Company of Canton falsified certified payroll records for Claras Construction to avoid paying the prevailing wage and fringe benefits.

The division recovered $77,206 in back wages from the prime contractor, Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, which was responsible for ensuring its subcontractors complied with the DBRA’s contract clauses. In addition, the department has barred Claras and Westview from working on future federally funded construction projects for three years.

“The Wage and Hour Division has zero tolerance for federal contractors that falsify payroll records and ignore their responsibilities to pay prevailing wages and fringe benefits to workers on federally funded projects. When employers like Westview Building Company and Claras Construction violate the law, the consequences can be serious and costly, including forfeiting their ability to bid on, or benefit from, federal construction contracts for three years,” said Wage and Hour District Director Carlos Matos in Boston. 

Daniel O’Connell’s Sons Inc. is a construction management company that has operated in New England since 1879. About 200 people are employed at its five regional offices in Holyoke and Milford, Massachusetts; New Haven, Connecticut; Kingston, New York; and Aventura, Florida.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. Workers can call the division confidentially with questions – regardless of immigration status – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices — available in English and Spanish — to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Date of action:                       August 1, 2024 

Type of action:                      Opinion affirming summary judgment 

Employer:                              F.W. Webb Co.

                                                    Bedford, MA

Background:                          After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed suit in July 2020 against F.W. Webb Co., a wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, cooling and other products, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The department alleged, among other things, that Webb violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by treating its inside sales representatives as exempt administrative employees and failing to pay them overtime premiums for their hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The department also alleged the employer failed to keep adequate and accurate records of hours worked.

                                                In June 2023, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the department on the exemption issue, as well as the department’s overtime and recordkeeping claims. In August 2023, the district court entered a consent judgment and stay order that preserved Webb’s right to appeal the district court’s summary judgment decision on the administrative exemption and resolved all other outstanding issues in the case. Webb appealed the summary judgment decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in September 2023.

Resolution:                           On Aug. 1, 2024, the 1st Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment decision, agreeing that Webb’s inside sales representatives are not exempt administrative employees under the FLSA. The appeals court concluded the affected employees’ primary duty was to perform Webb’s business function of making wholesale sales of Webb’s products and thus they could not be considered administrative employees. The 1st Circuit said the affected employees’ “primary duties are not ‘administrative’ in any sense of the word.” Webb then petitioned the 1st Circuit to rehear the case en banc, which the 1st Circuit denied on Sept. 4, 2024. Webb has deposited approximately $4.2 million in back wages with the district court that the department will distribute to the more than 700 employees affected by this case in the event that Webb does not seek any further appellate review.

Court:                                     U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Docket Number:                    23-1793

Quote:                                     “This decision solidifies the law in the 1st Circuit governing when employees may be administratively exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime protections,” said Regional Solicitor Maia S. Fisher in Boston. “Through this case and our litigation in the Unitil case, we have successfully obtained decisions clarifying the 1st Circuit law regarding the FLSA’s administrative exemption. The department will continue to use its resources for broad impact by bringing cases such as these that can improve the law in service of the department’s mission.”

                                                “Employers should know that the U.S. Department of Labor takes very seriously the incorrect classification of employees as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage requirements because such actions deny employees the wages to which they have a legal right,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Mark Watson Jr. in Philadelphia.