Employers:                Old Woodward Ventures LLC, operating as Luxe Bar & Grill

                                         Kara Bongiovanni

SOUTH BEND, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a permanent injunction and order forbidding the owner and operator of 61 Mega Liquor & Smoke stores in Indiana and Michigan from retaliating against workers who cooperate with U.S.

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent judgment requiring a Philadelphia-based home care services provider to pay 66 home health aides $129,697 in back wages and damages after investigations and litigation confirmed the employer willfully denied them overtime pay. 

Date of action:                       May 24, 2024

Type of action:                      Consent judgment 

Employers:    Ware Landscaping, Naperville, Illinois

                             Michael Ware, owner

Action:           U.S. Department of Labor complaint and consent judgment filing

STANDISH, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order requiring T.J. Schmidt & Co.

NEWARK, NJ. - El Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU. ha conseguido una orden judicial federal que obliga a dos empresas de construcción de Nueva Jersey y a sus dueños y gerentes a pagar $600,000 en sueldos atrasados y daños y perjuicios a 131 exempleados, después de que, en una investigación federal, se descubriera que los empleadores participaban en un plan de bonus ilegal en el pago de horas extras.

NEWARK, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order that requires two New Jersey construction companies and their owners and managers to pay $600,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 131 former employees after a federal investigation found the employers engaged in an illegal bonus pay scheme.

HOUSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has asked a federal court in Houston to stop the owner and operator of 17 single-family residential group homes and a day habilitation center for adults with disabilities from violating several federal employment regulations and to pay dozens of current and former employees back wages they’re owed as well as damages.

Employers:    Axis Home PCA Agency Inc. 

Cubtan Nur, owner                    

Action:           Consent judgment and order 

Date of Action:          July 19, 2024                                                                                                                                          

DETROIT, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent preliminary injunction against the Michigan operator of Leo’s Coney Island franchise locations in Clarkston, Dearborn, Livonia and Sterling Heights with a history of defying overtime regulations and shortchanging employees’ wages.

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgement from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma that includes a landmark injunction that permanently prevents the U.S. Postal Service from retaliating against employees at up to 59 locations in the State of Washington. 

Employers:    Community Living of Brookfield LLC, Brookfield, Wisconsin

                             Matthew Sebuliba, owner and operator

 Action:           Consent judgment and order

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $167,101 in back wages for 20 workers for a Keene roofing contractor that paid incorrect wages and improper overtime to foreign temporary workers employed through the federal H-2B nonimmigrant program.

INDIANAPOLIS – Despite a 2022 federal court judgment requiring him to pay his employees overtime, Tim Paul — owner of eight Indianapolis-area healthcare services companies — continues to use improper pay practices, the U.S. Department of Labor alleges in its request that a federal court hold the employer in contempt for ignoring the 2022 decision.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has asked a federal court to stop improper employment practices by a Virginia-based IT staffing agency that bind employees to their jobs, extract huge sums from them if they leave the firm and forbid them from engaging in protected activity under federal law.

LITTLE ROCK, AR – The owner of a Benton tavern and restaurant has agreed to comply with a preliminary injunction obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor to stop the employer from violating federal regulations.

The action comes amid allegations that Tim’s Tavern and owner Tim Steppach failed to pay minimum and overtime wages as required, kept workers’ tips, employed children illegally and fired a worker who warned that the department would be notified.

SAN DIEGO, CA – Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a troubling increase in wage theft by customs brokers and freight-forwarding and logistics companies operating near the Mexican border, a trend reflected in three recent investigations in San Diego that recovered nearly $840,000 for 32 employees, some of whom one employer paid less than $3 per hour.

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in a federal court ordering a City of Industry meat processor and a Downey staffing agency to surrender $327,484 in illegal profits made from sales of products associated with oppressive, exploitative child labor. The judgment also requires the employers to pay the department $62,516 in penalties.