NORRISTOWN, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment ordering a Norristown restaurant and its owners to pay $252,579 in back wages and liquidated damages to 21 employees, an action that follows a federal investigation that found the employers denied proper overtime pay intentionally.

Employers:    Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order

FILADELFIA - Una investigación federal de las prácticas de pago de un mayorista de Filadelfia ha llevado al Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. para obtener una sentencia acordada en un tribunal federal, la cual exige que las empresas paguen $419,615 a 21 personas empleadas a quienes se les negó deliberadamente los salarios por horas extras.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor invites outstanding recent law school graduates with a passion for public service to apply for its two-year Honors Program and earn unique experience in one of the federal government’s preeminent legal offices.

PHILADELPHIA – A federal investigation of the pay practices of a Philadelphia wholesaler has led the U.S. Department of Labor to obtain a consent judgment in federal court, requiring the employers to pay $419,615 to 21 workers deliberately denied overtime wages.

Date of Action:          Aug. 30, 2023

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act complaint filing

Company/Owners:   Virtual Matrix Corp.

Suman Thotakura

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment to recover $153,768 for four people whose former employer abandoned its employee retirement plan more than two decades ago, leaving no one to administer the plan and authorize distribution of its funds, a violation of federal law.

CHICAGO – A federal court has ordered the operators of a Huntley restaurant to pay eight employees more than $105,000 in back wages and damages, despite the employers’ attempt to interfere with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found they illegally denied the workers their earned overtime wages.

BOSTON – In early June 2022, an employee of a Vermont company that sells and services agricultural equipment observed their employer pumping wastewater from the facility’s service bays onto the ground bordering the Winooski River in Berlin. The employee reported their concerns about the potential harm to the river, first to supervisors and then to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal court to force a Waukegan roofing contractor to pay $360,531 in penalties for repeatedly exposing employees to falls from elevations, the leading cause of fatal injuries in the construction industry.

NEW YORK– The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against DISH Network Corp. seeking an order to compel the company to provide documents and information needed to complete a review of the federal contractor’s equal employment opportunity practices at its Roseland, New Jersey, location.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order from a federal judge that orders the owner and administrator of an Illinois home care and home healthcare provider to pay $324,049 in back wages and liquidated damages as part of the department’s effort to recover overtime denied to 159 healthcare workers.

TYLER, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit against Tyler Pipe Company alleging violations of federal whistleblower protections after the company fired an employee because they requested to use a respirator to protect them from smoke and fumes in the work area.

CHICAGO – A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against the fiduciaries of a Chicago-based multiple employer welfare arrangement to protect the fund’s remaining assets after a Department of Labor investigation alleged its fiduciaries and counsel misused more than $2.8 million in fund assets, and that they continue to mismanage the fund.

Date of action:                       July 21, 2023

Type of action:                      Stipulated settlement agreement

CONCORD, NH – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $215,675 in back wages and liquidated damages for 47 employees employed by Miguel Reynosa and Crescencio Reynosa, the operators of two restaurants in Dover and Epping, who denied workers their full wages and permitted four minors to work longer and later than legally permitted.

QUAKERTOWN, PA - Un tribunal de Pensilvania ha declarado que el administrador general de Quakertown Hampton Inn incurrió en desacato por violar una sentencia acordada en febrero de 2023. La sentencia por desacato requiere que la empresa pague $8,750 en concepto de salarios atrasados, y un monto igual en concepto de daños y perjuicios y $500 en intereses para el personal afectado del hotel, así como $2,000 para reembolsar las costas de investigación y abogados.

NEW YORK – KDE Equine LLC — doing business as Steve Asmussen Stables — has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to reimburse its grooms and hot walkers $129,776 to resolve violations of the federal H-2B worker program which permits businesses to employ temporary visa workers.

Date of Action:                      July 20, 2023

MADISON, WI – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against the nation’s largest third-party medical claims administrator for routinely denying healthcare claims for emergency room services and urinary drug screening for at least 2,136 self-funded employee welfare benefit plans.