Judge orders Nebraska restaurant and its owner to comply with wage laws, pay employees $17K in back overtime

KEARNEY, NE – A federal court has ordered a Kearney pizza and burger restaurant and its owner to pay $17,216 – $8,608 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 13 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Kopf entered the judgment and injunction against The Flippin Sweet Eateries and its owner, Jason B. Alexander and prohibited them permanently from future FLSA violations. The court entered the default judgment after the defendants failed to comply with court orders and respond to a complaint filed in 2019 by the department.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found the restaurant wrongly classified workers as exempt from overtime, when they were not. Consequently the employer failed to pay employees overtime at time-and-one-half their hourly rate when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek and failed to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, both FLSA violations.

“A federal court has held this employer accountable to complying with federal wage laws and court orders and ordered them to pay 13 workers not only their hard-earned wages, but also damages to help make up for the fact that they weren’t paid properly,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Marcy Boldman in Des Moines, Iowa. “The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that all workers receive their rightfully earned wages and that employers abide by the law. Other employers should use the outcome of this case as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Secretary of Labor vs. The Flippin Sweet Eateries, Jason B. Alexander

Civil Action Number: 7:19-cv-5005