Federal court orders shuttle service to pay $742K in wages, damages to 368 employees after US Department of Labor investigation, litigation

NEW YORK – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has entered a consent judgment  ordering a Brooklyn bus and shuttle service to pay $742,500 in back wages and liquidated damages for overtime wages denied to 368 shuttle drivers, following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that Brooklyn-based Trans Express Inc., a subsidiary of National Express Transit Corp. failed to pay overtime wages to employees who picked up and dropped off passengers for Trans Express Inc.’s clients.

The division found Trans Express paid the drivers flat rates ranging from approximately $100 to $190 per day without regard to the number of hours they worked in a day or in a workweek. Employees typically worked 45 to 60 hours per workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay overtime when employees work more than 40 hours in a workweek. The division found Trans Express improperly assumed its employees were not entitled to overtime under FLSA. Investigators also found Trans Express failed to keep adequate and accurate records as the law requires.

“Trans Express failed to pay hundreds of workers all of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jorge Alvarez in New York. “The company shortchanged these employees and their families, and gained an unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors. Now, Trans Express is being held accountable.”

In addition to payment of the back wages and liquidated damages, the court ordered Trans Express to comply with the FLSA’s overtime and recordkeeping requirements.

“The U.S. Department of Labor vigorously pursued legal action to ensure Trans Express’s employees were properly compensated as required by the law. The department will continue to pursue litigation where employers fail to comply with the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York.

The division’s New York City District Office conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney David Rutenberg of the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case for the department.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Trans Express Inc. is a regional transportation firm, specializing in point to point shuttle services.

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’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.

Walsh v. Trans Express Inc.

Civil Action No. 19-1423-SJ-RER