US Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering a Sacramento Fastrip convenience store operator to pay $132K in owed wages, damages

Employer:                              Fastrip Sacramento Inc., operating as Fastrip Food Store

                                                8061 Florin Road

Sacramento, CA 95828           

Type of action:                      Consent judgment and order

Name of defendants:             Fastrip Sacramento Inc., Amrik Singh

Background: Aninvestigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the operators of a Fastrip gas station and convenience store failed to pay federal minimum wage and overtime rates to seven employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. After learning of the investigation, the employer attempted to interfere by instructing employees not to speak with investigators, including offering bribes; requiring employees to sign blank timecards that the employer later backdated and falsified; and by trying to retaliate and intimidate employees by threatening to report their immigration status and by visiting or calling family or friends.

Resolution: The consent judgment orders Fastrip and Amrik Singh to pay $57,340 minimum wage and overtime, an equal amount in liquidated damages and $17,500 in compensatory damages to seven workers. The court also ordered Fastrip to pay $4,655 in civil penalties assessed by the division.  

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

Docket Number: 2:24-cv-00761-DJC-DB

Quote: “One of the U.S. Department of Labor’s priorities is to protect workers against the types of atrocious and illegal acts these employers took to retaliate against employees and interfere with our investigation,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Their despicable actions to mask their deliberate efforts to deny vulnerable employees their hard-earned wages proved pointless and costly.” 

Background: Jaco Oil Co. owns more than 54 convenience stores branded as Fastrip Food Stores in Arizona and California; most are which are leased to independent operators.

The division’s Sacramento District Office conducted the investigation. The San Francisco Regional Office of the Solicitor reached the consent judgment at the court.

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. You can find other information on the agency’s website if you think you may have been misclassified as an independent contractor, or want to know how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate.