U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Rhode Island Restaurant Paying $775,000 in Back Wages, Damages and Penalties

PROVIDENCE, RI – After a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island has entered a consent judgment and order requiring Los Andes Restaurant and its owners to pay $729,895 in back wages and liquidated damages to 128 employees to resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They will also pay a civil money penalty of $45,104.

An investigation by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found that the restaurant – based in Providence, Rhode Island – and owners Omar Curi and Cesin Curi failed to pay overtime to cooks, food preparation workers, wait staff and bartenders when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The defendants instead made unrecorded cash payments to the employees at straight-time rates for the overtime hours and failed to maintain required records of employees’ wages and work hours.

In addition to the payment of the wages, damages and a civil money penalty, the consent judgment enjoins the defendants from future FLSA violations and prohibits them from withholding the back wages from the affected employees.

“The U.S. Department of Labor provides numerous tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with the law, and we encourage employers and employees alike to contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance,” said Wage and Hour Assistant District Director Donald Epifano in Providence, Rhode Island. “Through this period of nationwide challenge, we remain committed to providing employers the tools they need to avoid costly violations like those found in this investigation. We invite employees and employers to contact us confidentially toll-free at 1-866-4-USWAGE.”

“The U.S. Department of Labor will continue to take appropriate legal action to ensure that workers are paid the wages they have earned and to level the economic playing field for law-abiding employers,” said New England Regional Solicitor Maia Fisher in Boston, Massachusetts.

Read the complaint and consent judgment.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

Scalia v. Los Andes, LLC, doing business as Los Andes Restaurant, Omar Curi, and Cesin Curi

Civil Action No.: 20-cv-00073-MSM-PAS