News Brief
US Department of Labor finds Arkansas restaurants’ operator illegally fired worker who used federally protected medical leave
Employer name: Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant Inc., operating as El Lorito
Investigation sites: 3105 S 70th St.
Fort Smith, AR 72903
Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the operator of nine Arkansas restaurants failed to reinstate an employee to the same or an equivalent position after they returned from family and medical leave. The employer later terminated the worker who refused to report to another restaurant location in another town miles away. The division determined the employer owed the former employee lost hourly wages and wages from tips for the more than five months they spent obtaining another job.
Back wages recovered: $11,706
Civil money penalties: $204 in penalties for the violations
Quote: “An employer’s compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act is never optional. An employee eligible for this protected leave must be allowed to exercise their right to use it without fear of losing their job,” said Wage and Hour District Director Hanz Grünauer in Little Rock, Arkansas. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employees’ rights are protected and will use all available remedies when violations are found.”
