Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
Press Releases
U.S. Department of Labor |
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Judge orders Redmond Herbal Spas to pay employees $135,536 in back wages and liquidated damages (Chinese version)
US Labor Department found massage therapists working 54 to 74 hours per week
SEATTLE -- Redmond Herbal Spas LLC, doing business as Asian Miracle Massage, and Mei Zheng, also known as Margaret Sutton, individually and as owner of three area spas, were ordered by a federal judge to pay 23 massage therapists $67,768 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to total $135,536. The order follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found Redmond Herbal Spas misclassified employees, who worked as massage therapists, as independent contractors. It typically paid them on a commission-only basis, resulting in violations of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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