August 3, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Judgment Ordering Arizona Company to Pay $3,000,000 in Back Wages and Damages

PHOENIX, AZ – The U.S. Department of Labor secured a $3,000,000 consent judgment against Stratis Construction Inc. – a residential drywall company based in Phoenix, Arizona – for violating overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 30, 2020

Administrative Law Judge Upholds U.S. Department of Labor Citations And Penalties to Manufacturer That Falsely Claimed Violations’ Abatement

NEW YORK, NY – An administrative law judge with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld citations and penalties from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) against Timberline Hardwood Floors LLC, a custom hardwood-flooring manufacturer that falsely claimed to have corrected previously cited hazards. The judge’s decision also orders the company to pay $166,265 in penalties for all violations.

July 30, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Default Judgment Requiring Defunct Virginia Company to Restore $21,880 to Employee 401(k) and Benefit Plans

MCLEAN, VA – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has approved a default judgment that requires Mahan Consulting Group LLC and its president and owner Shaun Marzett to restore $21,880 to the 401(k), health and welfare benefit plans of the now defunct consulting company in McLean, Virginia.

July 28, 2020

Federal Court Orders Millions Restored to Connecticut Health and Retirement Plans After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation, Litigation

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has approved a consent judgment and order requiring Bridgeport Health Care Center Inc. (BHCC) – the operating entity of two former Bridgeport nursing homes – and former officer Chaim Stern, to pay a total of $3,366,957 to BHCC’s health and retirement plans to resolve violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

July 22, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Injunction Enjoining Fleet Owners Insurance Fund from Paying Attorney’s Fees in Defense of ERISA Violations

CLEVELAND, OH – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio has issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the Fleet Owners Insurance Fund from paying or advancing attorneys’ fees to any of the defendants in a U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforcement case.

July 20, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Secures Default Judgment Ordering Puerto Rico Security Companies to Pay $942,127 in Back Wages, Damages, and Penalties

SAN JUAN, PR – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and litigation by the Department’s Office of the Solicitor, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico has entered a default judgment ordering a group of four interrelated Puerto Rico security guard companies and their principals to pay a total of $715,685 in back wages and damages to 400 employees for their willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 16, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Statement on D.C. Circuit Court Ruling

WASHINGTON, DC – Solicitor of Labor Kate O’Scannlain and Assistant Secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) David G. Zatezalo issued the following statement regarding today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in In re: United Mine Workers of America International Union and United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC, No. 20-1215:

July 15, 2020

Court Finds Massachusetts Companies and Officers in Contempt For Withholding from Employees More Than $1 Million in Back Wages

BOSTON, MA – The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has found two Massachusetts construction companies and two of their officers in civil contempt for failing to fulfill certain terms of an August 2016 consent judgment and order requiring them to pay $2,359,685 in back wages and liquidated damages to 478 employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 10, 2020

New York Company to Correct Hazards, Enhance Safety and Pay Penalties After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation, Litigation

NEW YORK, NY – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Nonwovens Corp. – a home and personal care fabric products manufacturer based in Long Island, New York – will address and correct hazards at their five manufacturing facilities in New York, and pay $200,000 in penalties to resolve safety violations.

June 25, 2020

Court Orders Hudson Valley, New York, Convenience Stores and Owners To Pay $400,301 After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation, Litigation

NEW YORK, NY After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and litigation by the Department’s Office of the Solicitor, the U.S.

June 16, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Files Suit Alleging Transport Company Owes 700 Drivers More than $1.5 Million in Overtime Back Wages and Damages

DETROIT, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan against ProCorp LLC – owner Timothy Schultz and operations manager Nichole Shaffer – seeking an injunction and more than $1.5 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages for approximately 700 drivers employed by the company.

June 11, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Statement on D.C. Circuit Court Ruling

WASHINGTON, DC – Solicitor of Labor Kate O’Scannlain and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Loren Sweatt issued the following statement regarding today’s D.C. Circuit Court ruling in re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, No. 20-1158:

June 1, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Attorney Samantha Thomas Awarded Arthur S. Flemming Award for Legal Achievement

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Samantha Thomas, an Associate Regional Solicitor in its Office of the Solicitor, received an Arthur S. Flemming Award for Legal Achievement for her efforts to recover $5,867,536 in back wages for 1,562 coal miners and other mine employees in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Wyoming.

April 7, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Asks Federal Court to Force Lincolnshire, Illinois, Company to Supply Documents Sought in Employee Benefits Investigation

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a petition asking the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, to enforce an administrative subpoena the department served to Alight Solutions LLC – based in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

March 19, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Default Judgment to Restore $103,098 To Virginia Engineering Company Employees’ Retirement Plan

ANNANDALE, VA – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has issued a default judgment requiring defendants JWK Corp., its chief executive officer and the director of operations to restore $103,098 to the 401(k) defined contribution plan of the Annandale, Virginia-based engineering services company.

February 3, 2020

Former Owner of Florida-Based SB Framing Services Sentenced For Willfully Violating Federal Fall Protection Standards

NAPLES, FL After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division, has sentenced Stalin Rene Barahona – former owner of the now-dissolved SB Framing Services Inc. in Naples, Florida – to 30 days in prison. Barahona pleaded guilty to one count of willfully violating federal fall protection standards. He will begin serving his sentence on Feb. 26, 2020.

January 10, 2020

Florida Roofing Contractor Found in Contempt after Failing to Pay $2,202,049 in Penalties for Safety and Health Violations

ATLANTA, GA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has found a Jacksonville, Florida-based roofing contractor in contempt of court for failing to pay $2,202,049 in penalties assessed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for safety and health violations at worksites in Florida.

January 6, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor H-1B Visa Program Litigation Results In Back Wages, Fines and Debarment for Beauty Products Distributor

FARMERS BRANCH, TX – Attorneys from the Dallas Regional Solicitor office obtained a favorable settlement against an employer for violations of the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.  The violations against Joon Beauty Line Corporation include failing to pay wages as required to a H-1B worker, failing to maintain a public access file, and substantially failing to provide notice of the filing of the Labor Contract Agreement at each place of employment where any H-1B worker will be employed.

December 18, 2019

New Hampshire Resort Pays $124,999 in Back Wages and Penalties To Resolve H-2B Violations Found By U.S. Department of Labor

MANCHESTER, NH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), The NASWA Motor Inn Inc. – doing business as The NASWA Resort in Laconia, New Hampshire – has paid a total of $64,449 in back wages to 64 employees and $60,550 in civil money penalties to resolve violations of the H-2B non-immigrant visa program.

December 13, 2019

Massachusetts Court Sentences Contractor Convicted for Manslaughter And Witness Intimidation in Deadly 2016 Trench Collapse

BOSTON, MA – The Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, Massachusetts, recently sentenced Atlantic Drain Service Company Inc. owner Kevin Otto to two years imprisonment on each of two counts of manslaughter, to run concurrently, and three years of probation for witness intimidation. The court’s action follows a U.S.