U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Court Order Requiring Concrete Company to Pay Employees $412,000 in Back Wages and Damages

WESTBURY, NY – After an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has ordered Casa Concrete Inc., a provider of concrete services, and its officers, Alice Fernandes and Manuel Fernandes, to pay $412,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 20 employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Investigators from the Department’s Wage and Hour Division found that the Casa Concrete, based in Selden, typically paid employees by check for their first 40 hours of work, but paid them in cash at a straight time – or lower – rates for any hours they worked beyond 40 per workweek. The company also failed to pay employees for time spent working in its Long Island yard and traveling to and from the yard to job sites. In addition, Casa Concrete failed to keep required records of employees’ work hours, rates of pay, and total wages paid.

“Employees are entitled to receive all of the wages they have legally earned for all the hours that they have worked,” said Irv Miljoner, Wage and Hour Division District Director in Westbury. “We encourage employees or employers with questions about FLSA compliance to reach out to us for help. This can help prevent violations from occurring in the first place.”

“The U.S. Department of Labor will use all tools at its disposal – including litigation when necessary – to ensure that workers are not exploited and employers don’t gain an unfair advantage over their competitors by breaking the law,” said Jeffrey S. Rogoff, Regional Solicitor of Labor in New York.

The consent judgment also prohibits the defendants from retaliating against, or soliciting repayment of recovered wages from, the employees. Read the complaint and consent judgment.

The Division’s Long Island District Office conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Elena Goldstein of the regional solicitor’s office in New York litigated the case.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd; the site includes a search tool to learn whether you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

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Acosta v. Casa Concrete Inc., Alice Fernandes, Manuel Fernandes.
Civil Action Number: 18-CV-1500