Massachusetts Seafood Processor To Pay Back Wages and Damages to 60 Employees

BOSTON, MA – A Gloucester seafood processor will pay $90,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 60 employees to rectify violations identified during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a consent judgment ordering Intershell International Corp., and its owners Yibing Gao-Rome and Monte Rome, to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and to refrain from discharging or discriminating against employees who initiate or cooperate with an FLSA investigation. They will also pay $28,050 in civil money penalties to the Department.

“This resolution secures proper compensation for these hard-working employees, and helps ensure that the law will be followed in the future,” said Wage and Hour District Director Carlos Matos.

In 2016, the Department’s Office of the Solicitor filed suit against the defendants alleging that they did not pay overtime to employees – as most were paid through a series of temporary staffing agencies – who cut, cleaned, and packed seafood when they worked more than 40 hours during a work week. The defendants also failed to maintain and provide adequate and accurate payroll and hours records, provided inaccurate records to investigators, and improperly deducted from certain employees’ pay for the cost of cleaning their uniforms.

“Employers may not avoid the obligations they owe their employees – gaining an unfair advantage over employers who honor those obligations – by attempting to shift their legal responsibilities to temporary agencies. It’s critical that host companies acknowledge and comply with their responsibilities to these workers,” said regional Solicitor of Labor Michael Felsen. 

View the consent judgment.

The FLSA requires that most employees receive one-and-one-half times their regular rates of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a work week and that employers maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ wages and work hours.

The Division’s Boston District Office investigated, while Senior Trial Attorney James Glickman and Trial Attorney Sheila Gholkar in Boston’s solicitor’s office litigated the case.

The Division is committed to providing employers with the tools they need to assist them – in a variety of languages – in fulfilling their obligation to understand and comply with the variety of laws the Division enforces. It offers useful resources ranging from an interactive E-laws advisor to a complete library of free, downloadable workplace posters. In addition, the Division’s Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialists conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate stakeholders, including employers, employees, business and labor groups, and professional associations, among others, with accessible, easy-to-understand information about their rights and responsibilities.

For more information about the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd. 

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Acosta v. Intershell International Corp., Yibing Gao-Rome, Monte Rome, et. al.
Civil Action Number:  1:16-cv-11999