TACOMA, WA – A federal court in Tacoma has ruled that the U.S. Postal Service retaliated against an employee who reported an injury to supervisors and applied for workers’ compensation benefits in 2019 while on probation as a new postal employee.

LYNDHURST, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in a federal court in New Jersey to recover $910,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 289 employees of a Lyndhurst staffing agency whose pay practices deprived them of hard-earned overtime wages.

HARRISBURG, PA – A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s request to enjoin and restrain the owner of a Popeyes franchise restaurant in Harrisburg and its district manager from threatening workers, harassing federal investigators, and otherwise obstructing an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

WESTBURY, NY - El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha recuperado más de $333,000 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios para 51 personas empleadas en una empresa de mantenimiento de Long Island que emitía cheques por separado para sus empleados para ocultar que la empresa no pagaba los salarios por horas extras cuando lo requería la ley.

WESTBURY, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $333,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 51 employees of a Long Island maintenance company that issued separate checks to workers to mask the company’s failure to pay overtime wages when required by law.

BOSTON, MA – A federal administrative law judge has determined that UHS of Delaware Inc. and UHS of Fuller Inc. exposed their employees at Fuller Hospital in Attleboro to workplace violence without adequate protections in 2019, particularly at times when hospital staffing was low. Fuller Hospital is a 102-bed behavioral health facility that provides acute inpatient hospitalization for adolescents and adults.

PHILADELPHIA – A federal court has entered a consent judgment requiring a Philadelphia home care agency and its owner to pay more than $410,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 55 employees after an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court requiring the operators of five pizza franchise locations in Illinois and Indiana to pay $250,000 in back wages and damages in its effort to recover unpaid overtime wages for 35 restaurant and delivery employees.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement with the Prudential Insurance Company of America — a subsidiary of Prudential Financial Inc. — that will require the financial giant to revise its practices after a federal investigation found the Newark, New Jersey-based company collected life insurance premiums from participants for extended periods, but then denied numerous claims after the participants died, citing the participants’ failure to provide evidence of insurability when they applied for insurance.

Employer:      Town and Country Inc., Cleveland, Missouri

Actions:          Filing of Fair Labor Standards Act complaint in federal court

Request for administrative judicial hearing

Date of action:                       April 6, 2023

Type of action:                      Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and permanent injunction

DUNDEE, OH – An Ohio lathe mill has paid an enhanced child labor enforcement penalty of $22,093 after  federal investigators found the company employed a 15-year-old worker illegally in a hazardous occupation –the operation of a sawmill – which led the worker to suffer injury when he became entangled in the gears of a powered wood processing machine.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $62,412 in back wages and damages for 20 workers after a federal court in Michigan supported the department’s findings that a Grand Rapids restaurant denied overtime wages to the workers and failed to pay minimum wage to one server.

Date of action:                       March 31, 2023

Type of action:                      Complaint

Names of defendant:         Medi-Wheels of the Palm Beaches Inc.

Date of action:                       March 22, 2023

Type of action:                      Order

Names of defendants:         Unitil Service Corp.

CONCORD, NH - Un tribunal federal ha aprobado un fallo por consentimiento que obliga al propietario y operador de tres restaurantes en Nuevo Hampshire y Massachusetts, con sede principal en Concord, Nuevo Hampshire a pagar $911,568 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios a 99 empleados tras una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. sobre sus prácticas de pago.

CONCORD, NH – A federal court has entered a consent order requiring the Concord-based owner and operator of three restaurants in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to pay $911,568 in back wages and liquidated damages to 99 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into their pay practices.

AUSTIN, TX – When an employee of a luxury auto dealership in Austin learned a co-worker had tested positive for COVID-19 in December 2020, they alerted the company’s management and requested they notify other employees immediately of their exposure risk.

After the dealership failed to act, the employee emailed all company employees about the potential hazards. Less than an hour later, the car dealer terminated the employee.

Date of Action:          March 13, 2023

Type of Action:         Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

Company/Owners:    GEM Interiors Inc., Milford, Ohio

KANSAS CITY, KS – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against the owner of two Kansas restaurants who allegedly denied minimum and overtime wages to kitchen staff, servers, hosts and food runners after some worked as many as 66 hours per week.