March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Rhode Island restaurant chain to pay over $100K in wages, damages to 32 underpaid employees following US Labor Department investigation [03/31/2015]

Employer name: CMG Holding Company, LLC d/b/a/ Cilantro Mexican Grill.

Investigation sites: 1255 Reservoir Ave., Cranston; 127 Weybosset St, Providence; 430 Newport Ave, Rumford;1650 Mineral Spring Ave, Providence; 166 JT Connell Highway, Newport; 712 Center of New England Boulevard, Coventry; 1759 Post Road, Warwick.

March 31, 2015

WHD News Brief: Philadelphia-based farm labor contractor ordered to pay $146K in penalties for federal labor violations at Lumberton, New Jersey, nursery [03/31/2015]

Type of Action: Default Judgment

Respondents: Farm labor contractor Heng Heng Agency, Inc., and its owner Visith Oum

March 30, 2015

WHD News Release: US Department of Labor finds oil and gas industry workers in New Mexico, west Texas underpaid by more than $1.3M [03/30/2015]

ALBUQUERQUE — A day's work in an oilfield usually means long hours in physically demanding and exhausting conditions. Industry workers deserve every penny of their hard-earned wages. In the oil-and-gas-rich Southwest, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division is making sure these workers get their pay. Since it launched an enforcement initiative covering New Mexico and west Texas in 2014, the agency has recovered more than $1.3 million owed to more than 1,300 workers.

March 26, 2015

WHD News Release: More than 1,100 New Jersey gas station attendants receive $5.5 million in back wages and damages in US Labor Department enforcement initiative [03/26/2015]

MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. — In the past five years, more than 1,100 attendants at Shell, Exxon, BP and other leading brand gas stations in New Jersey have been denied the minimum wage and, in some cases, overtime pay. These workers have received $5.5 million in back wages and damages recovered thanks to a multiyear enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

March 26, 2015

WHD News Release: More than 1,100 New Jersey gas station attendants receive $5.5 million in back wages and damages in US Labor Department enforcement initiative [03/26/2015]

MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. — In the past five years, more than 1,100 attendants at Shell, Exxon, BP and other leading brand gas stations in New Jersey have been denied the minimum wage and, in some cases, overtime pay. These workers have received $5.5 million in back wages and damages recovered thanks to a multiyear enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

March 26, 2015

WHD News Release: U.S. Labor Department lawsuit seeks back wages, damages for 34 Chicago limo drivers employed by Town & Country Limousine [03/26/2015]

Date of Action: March 6, 2015

Type of Action: FLSA lawsuit

Names of Defendants: DT & C Global Management LLC d/b/a/ Town & Country Limousine, John Jansen, William Lynch

March 25, 2015

WHD News Release: Security firm fails to protect fair wages and benefits of 650 guards in Puerto Rico, owes them nearly $350K in back wages and damages [03/25/2015]

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico — Alpha Guards Management Inc. provides security guards to ensure the safety of employees of businesses and government agencies in Puerto Rico. Yet, the San Juan-based employer failed to protect its own employees by violating their right to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

March 24, 2015

WHD News Brief: Caregivers at 6 Houston group homes receive $60,923 in overtime back pay following US Labor Department investigations [03/24/2015]

Employer name: Viacell LLC doing business as A Devoted Care Provider

Site: Corporate office in Stafford, Texas, and six group homes investigated in the Houston area

March 9, 2015

WHD News Brief: Saipan and Tinian employer to return $70K in back wages to 24 workers [03/09/2015]

Employer: Long Feng Corporation, doing business as New XO Market in Saipan and Tian Hong Market in Tinian

Site: Grocery store, poker arcade and coin laundry establishments in Saipan and Tinian

March 9, 2015

WHD News Brief: Honolulu restaurant to return more than $57K in tips and unpaid wages to 68 employees [03/09/2015]

Employer: Paradise Inn Hawaii LLC, doing business as Tsukiji Fish Market Restaurant

Site: One restaurant location at the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu

March 3, 2015

WHD News Release: US Labor Department enforcement initiative finds widespread minimum wage and overtime violations in Dallas-area hotel industry [03/03/2015]

DALLAS — Living on the minimum wage is tough enough when workers are paid for all hours worked and harder still for employees who work off the clock and are not paid fully for their labor. Unpaid wages leave workers and their families to confront difficult choices, like buying medicine for a sick child or purchasing food.

March 3, 2015

WHD News Release: Westin Kierland Resort pays more than $76K in back wages, penalties [03/03/2015]

Employer underpays staff, denies employment to qualified domestic workers

March 3, 2015

WHD News Release: Drywall contractor owes 'tapers' more than $98K in back wages [03/03/2015]

PR Drywall of Hillsboro, Oregon, underpays 7 workers in wages and overtime

March 3, 2015

WHD News Brief: Mobile testing device employer pays more than $266,000 to 118 employees following US Labor Department investigations in Texas and Washington [03/03/2015]

Employer: Device Inside Inc., which provides mobile device testing and other related services for Samsung.

Site: Corporate office in Dallas, Texas and a branch office in Bellevue, Washington

February 26, 2015

WHD News Release: Money transfer companies violate wage laws, underpay more than 100 employees [02/26/2015]

DALLAS — Many workers in Texas with families in Mexico and Central America depend on money-transfer businesses to send money to their loved ones. America Transfers Inc. and Mexico Transfers Inc. employees work long hours to help these workers support their families abroad. Unfortunately, their employers and the companies' owners, Silvia Miranda and Jose Zamudio, had no similar concern for their workers. Wage and Hour Division Dallas District Office investigators found employees were willfully and repeatedly underpaid.

February 23, 2015

WHD News Release: Federal job-protected family and medical leave rights extended to eligible workers in same-sex marriages [02/23/2015]

WASHINGTON — Workers in legal, same-sex marriages, regardless of where they live, will now have the same rights as those in opposite-sex marriages to federal job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a spouse with a serious health condition. The U.S. Labor Department announced a rule change to the FMLA today in keeping with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor.

February 18, 2015

WHD News Release: Chang & Sons Enterprises Inc. continues to cheat workers, US Labor Department investigation reveals [02/18/2015]

BOSTON — A follow-up investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has found that Whately agribusiness Chang & Sons Enterprises Inc., and its owner Sidney Chang, continue to deny workers the wages they have legally earned, despite prior investigations and a legal judgment requiring the employer to pay back wages and comply with federal wage and hour laws.

February 12, 2015

WHD News Brief: Annual enforcement initiative finds wage violations at 49 New Mexico and West Texas child care centers [02/12/2015]

Site: New Mexico and West Texas

Type of Action: Ongoing multi-year enforcement initiative.

February 11, 2015

WHD News Brief: Department of Labor files suit alleging US Cotton terminated pregnant machine operator in violation of Family and Medical Leave Act [02/11/2015]

Date of Action: Feb. 4, 2015

Type of Action: Complaint

Name of Defendant: U.S. Cotton LLC, 15501 Industrial Parkway, Cleveland, Ohio

Allegations: U.S. Cotton LLC, of Cleveland, wrongfully terminated the employment of a pregnant machine operator who requested leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act due to illness related to her pregnancy.