ST. LOUIS, MO – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), three vape product retail stores operated by Coughing Cardinal LLC in St. Louis, Missouri, and owner Marco DiMaiern will pay 55 employees $123,422 in back wages for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime and recordkeeping requirements.  

WHD investigators determined Coughing Cardinal LLC and DiMaiern failed to pay employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid workers flat salaries, regardless of the number of hours that they worked. By doing so, the employer failed to pay them overtime in addition to those salaries when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The investigation found violations at two Missouri locations, Coughing Cardinal in St. Louis and Greatest Shop Ever in St. Peters, and at El Tigre in Edwardsville, Illinois.

The company also failed to maintain accurate records of each employee’s daily and weekly hours worked and overtime pay rate, resulting in recordkeeping violations.  

“Simply paying workers a salary doesn’t necessarily mean they are not still entitled to overtime. The Wage and Hour Division works to ensure employers in all industries comply with federal law so that every employee receives the wages they have rightfully earned,” said Wage and Hour District Director Jim Yochim in St. Louis, Missouri. “Employers must understand their responsibility to pay overtime and to keep accurate records. We encourage employers to use the wide variety of compliance tools we offer to explain those requirements, and to contact us for guidance.” 

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.  

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.

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