News Brief
Federal court orders Detroit security company, HR director to pay $68K in back wages, damages, penalties for shortchanging guards overtime
Employers: Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC
Carla Bland, human resources director
Actions: Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order
Courts: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Entered on Nov. 26, 2024, the consent judgment and order resolves a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor on Dec. 13, 2023.
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found from at least October 2021 through April 2022, the company paid some security guards “straight time” for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek when time and one-half their average hourly rate-of-pay was required. The company also misclassified some guards as exempt from overtime, all of which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Under the terms of the consent judgment, the company will pay the full back wages of $23,719 plus an equal amount in liquidated damages for a total of $47,438.
Additionally, the division assessed $20,625 in civil money penalties, for willful violations of the FLSA. Detroit Body Guards and Bland signed an agreement with the department to comply with the law, following an examination of payroll records that found similar wage violations occurred from August 2019 through October 2019.
Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC provides armed guard services to recreational and medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the metropolitan Detroit area.
Quotes: “There are specific salary and duty tests that must be met for an employee to be exempt from overtime.
Because the company was investigated in 2019 for similar wage violations, Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC and Carla Bland should have known they were violating federal law,” said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit.
“Complying with federal wage laws in not an option,” added Regional Solicitor Christine Heri in Chicago. “The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employers who violate federal wage laws—including individual employers responsible for FLSA violations—are held accountable.”
Background: 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.
United States Department of Labor v. Detroit Body Guards Protection Union LLC, Carla Bland
Civil Action No. 2:23- cv-13175
