News Brief
US Department of Labor recovers $125K in back wages, damages from operators of 3 Chicago area restaurants for 53 workers denied overtime
Employers: D’Nuez Corp.
Antonio Rendon
Albino Rendon
Action: Consent judgment and order
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Action: The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent judgment and order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Dec. 2, 2024, that requires D’Nuez Corp. and owners Antonio Rendon and Albino Rendon - operators of three restaurants in Chicago and Berwyn - to pay 53 employees a total of $125,000 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages – owed by the employer.
The judgment resolves a Nov. 13, 2024 complaint filed by the department after its Wage and Hour Division investigators found the family-operated Chicago company and its owners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when they did the following:
- Failed to pay servers and kitchen staff an overtime premium of time and one-half their hourly rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The restaurants paid overtime hours in cash at straight time.
- Failed to display a Fair Labor Standards Act poster as required.
The court’s action follows the division’s review of payroll records at two Mexican-fusion restaurants in Chicago on S. Archer Avenue and W. 18th Street from Feb. 28, 2021, to Sept. 26, 2023, that determined the employers owed $62,500 in back wages to the affected employees. In addition to paying back wages and damages, the employers are forbidden from future FLSA violations. The third restaurant, located at 7016 Cermak Road in Berwyn, was not involved in the lawsuit.
The company will repay the back wages in four equal payments within 90 days and must also provide employees information of the FLSA, maintain accurate payroll records, and provide each employee a paystub that details their earnings and withholdings for each pay period.
Trial attorney Correll L. Kennedy litigated the case on behalf of the department’s Office of the Solicitor.
Quotes: “For decades, federal law has required that most workers be paid overtime at time and one-half their average hourly rate of pay and, yet our investigators all too commonly find employers failing to meet this legal obligation,” said Wage and Hour District Director Tom Gauza in Chicago. “Employers must know and comply with federal wage laws and pay workers their rightfully earned wages.”
“The U.S. Department of Labor will take all necessary legal measures to recover back wages owed to workers and hold employers accountable for following the law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago.
Background: In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $29 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry nationwide.
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. D’Nuez Corp., Antonio Rendon, Albino Rendon
