Employers:    Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC

                        Carla Bland, human resources director

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A federal court in Michigan has ordered the owner of a Haslett assisted living facility, 

who allegedly threatened to fire three employees after she suspected they cooperated with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, to attend training on federal anti-retaliation regulations and pay back wages and damages.

WASHINGTON – When a group of bakery distribution drivers filed a lawsuit alleging that Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC owed them overtime compensation and misclassified them as independent contractors rather than employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the company countersued the workers.

WASHINGTON – Como la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU.

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – The owner of a Lynbrook grocery store believed they could ignore requests from the U.S. Department of Labor and a federal court in New York to cooperate with an investigation of their company’s pay practices. 

Employer name:                               Chief’s Place Pizza Restaurant Inc. doing business as Chief’s Place

BOSTON – A federal administrative law judge has determined that New Hampshire general contractor Barry Billcliff, doing business as Merrimack Valley Roofing and under other alleged business names, willfully exposed his employees to fall safety hazards and held him personally liable for more than $160,000 in penalties and attorneys’ fees. 

DETROIT, MI – A federal court has ordered the owner of a Michigan senior home care services company be imprisoned if she continues to ignore a March 2023 federal court order to provide U.S. Department of Labor investigators with time and pay records, despite being in contempt of court since Sept. 27, 2023, and assessed $250 for each day she refused to comply. 

Employers:    Poros Inc., operating as Bentley’s Pancake House

Pete and Stavroula Giafis,owners 

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Date of Action:          Nov. 1, 2023

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act default judgment

Company/Owners:    Claddagh Development Group LLC, operating as Claddagh Irish Pubs

Claddagh Development Group LLC Employee Savings Trust

WASHINGTON – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE UU ha recuperado $11.4 millones   en concepto de salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios para más de 1,000 empleados de una cadena de restaurantes de la Costa Este después de una serie de investigaciones y de litigio que el Departamento llevó a cabo. 

HARTFORD, CT – Numerous southeastern Connecticut residents rely on domestic caregivers for their daily living needs. While certain domestic workers were historically excluded from various protections provided by federal employment law, the Fair Labor Standards Act now entitles many of these workers to receive overtime wages when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek.

Date of action: October 31, 2023

Type of action: A temporary restraining order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey. The action follows a complaint and motion filed by the U.S. Department of Labor on Oct. 30, 2023.

BOSTON – The U.S.

Date of Action:          Oct. 26, 2023

 Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act default judgment

Company/Owners:    Associated Community Services Inc. 

WILLIAMSBURG, VA – El Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU. ha obtenido una sentencia por juicio de consentimiento en un tribunal federal de Virginia para cobrar $205,180 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios de un restaurante de Williamsburg que no quiso pagar las horas extras a 62 empleados.

COLLEGEVILLE, PA – Un restaurante de Collegeville y sus propietarios deben pagar US$268,660 por salarios atrasados, daños y perjuicios y daños punitivos para satisfacer una sentencia de consentimiento obtenida por el Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. después de una investigación sobre las prácticas salariales ilegales de los empleadores.

BOSTON – A county jail in Madison, Maine, has paid $133,273 in overtime back wages due to 142 correctional officers to resolve violations of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) following an investigation by the U.S.

Employer name:                               Kingsbury Companies LLC

Investigation site:                 58 Center Road, Middlesex, VT 05602 

PITTSBURGH – A federal court is requiring a Pittsburgh staffing agency and its owner to pay $208,044 in back wages and liquidated damages to 96 home health workers misclassified as independent contractors by the employer who, in turn, failed to pay them their full wages.