October 9, 2024

US Department of Labor sues New York City coffee shops, operators for not paying overtime to employees working at multiple locations

Date of action:     September 20, 2024 

Type of action:     Complaint

Defendants:     White Noise Coffee I Corp., White Noise Coffee 2 Corp., Milk Under Café Inc., Su Hyung Kim a/k/a Vanesa Kim, and Han Flanagan. 

October 2, 2024

AB Specialty Silicones must pay $1.3M federal penalty, implement comprehensive safety programs after 2019 Waukegan plant explosion

WAUKEGAN, IL – Chemical products manufacturer AB Specialty Silicones LLC will pay $1.3 million in penalties after an explosion and fire at its Waukegan plant in May 2019 claimed the lives of four workers. 

September 30, 2024

US Department of Labor sues Puerto Rico security guard company for misclassifying employees as independent contractors, denying overtime

Date of action:                       Sept. 24, 2024 

Type of action:                      Complaint

September 30, 2024

Department of Labor obtains order forbidding California transportation provider from retaliating against drivers, interfering with their rights

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a permanent injunction and court order forbidding a California transportation company from retaliating against drivers and illegally shifting liability for labor law violations onto workers who exercised their federally protected rights.

September 26, 2024

Court issues warrant for defunct Baltimore company’s owner’s arrest after repeated failure to restore $153K to employee 401(k) plan

Date of action:                       Sept. 25, 2024

Type of action:                      

Civil confinement of Bryan Hill, owner of defunct Bicallis LLC, arising from civil contempt

September 26, 2024

Department of Labor sues principal of defunct Pennsylvania modular building manufacturer to remove company’s health plan fiduciary, restore losses

Date of action:           Sept. 22, 2024

Type of action:          Complaint

Court:                         

September 24, 2024

US Department of Labor files suit to recover unpaid overtime wages, damages for more than 180 shortchanged Coway USA workers

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging that Coway USA Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that sells, leases and services household appliances, failed to pay overtime wages earned by more than 180 employees, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act

September 20, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $799K in back wages, damages owed to 110 employees denied overtime by Chicago-area car care centers

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. 

September 18, 2024

US Department of Labor files lawsuit to recover $1.87M in back wages, damages for 26 workers at Dragon Kitchen of Jefferson City

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. 

September 16, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $77K for 5 employees denied prevailing wages at federally funded construction project in Massachusetts

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.

September 16, 2024

Department of Labor obtains court order to forbid Maryland home care agency, owner from retaliating against employees as investigation continues

Date of action:           August 19, 2024

Type of action:          Temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction

September 13, 2024

Federal jury awards more than $957K in back wages to 168 workers denied full wages by joint owners of Kansas restaurants in Andover, Derby, Wichita

KANSAS CITY, KS – A federal jury in Kansas has awarded $957,324 in back wages for 168 workers at three Wichita-area restaurants jointly operated by three owners who willfully violated federal laws by using tips earned by servers to pay hosts and bussers and denying workers minimum and overtime wages.

September 13, 2024

US Department of Labor sues R.B. Pamplin Corporation and owner to recover millions in retirement funds for pension plan participants

PORTLAND, OR  The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. and R.B. Pamplin Corporation for jeopardizing millions of dollars in retirement funds for thousands of employees because of the unlawful acquisition of company-owned real estate by the R.B. Pamplin Corporation and Subsidiaries Pension Plan.

September 12, 2024

Federal appeals court upholds decision that F.W. Webb Co. wrongly exempted inside sales representatives from overtime pay

Date of action:                       August 1, 2024 

September 10, 2024

Prominent Fort Wayne restaurants operator must pay $149K in back wages, damages to 28 servers, $28K in penalties, to resolve federal wage violations

FORT WAYNE, IN – A federal lawsuit has recovered $178,000 in back wages, damages and penalties from Hall Drive-Ins Inc., operator of 10 Fort Wayne-area restaurants, to resolve U.S. Department of Labor litigation filed in 2023 in light of the employers’ violations of tip-pool requirements in the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

August 28, 2024

Labor, Justice departments, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade Commission strengthen partnership to protect workers in merger reviews

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission today signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen competition by better coordinating information used by antitrust agencies to evaluate potential impacts of mergers and acquisitions on labor markets.

August 19, 2024

Administrative Review Board affirms $45K penalty against Pike County employer who shortchanged 65 workers of minimum wage, overtime

Date of action:           July 18, 2024

Type of action:          Administrative Review Board decision, order

Employer names:      Shalimar Distributors LLC, operating as Promised Land Truck Stop