MONTGOMERY, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $26,927 in back wages and liquidated damages for 36 employees of an Alabama fast-food enterprise that allowed management at two of its Montgomery locations to deduct time worked illegally, which led to federal minimum wage and overtime violations.

SANTA ANA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $180,299 in back wages and damages from three Orange County residential construction contractors whose employment pay practices violated federal regulations and denied workers their rightful and legal wages.

Some of the violations related to an employer’s misclassification of employees as independent contractors, a common violation in the construction industry that deprives workers of full and proper wages, benefits and worker protections under federal law. 

Date of action:                       Sept. 28, 2023            

Employer:      2 Poto Inc., operating as Entre Nous French Bistro

                        119 West Green St.

Pasadena, CA 91105

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an investigation recovered more than $1 million in back wages and damages — its largest settlement to date for California garment workers — for 165 workers after finding a Los Angeles garment contractor denied them overtime wages illegally and then tried to conceal the wage theft. 

Date of action:           Dec. 8, 2023

Type of action:          Order granting Department of Labor’s motion to intervene

Court:                         U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains, New York

Defendants:               Berkshire Nursery & Supply Corp.

CHICAGO – A joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Office of the Attorney General has recovered $3 million in back wages, damages and interest for 283 workers denied overtime owed under federal and state regulations by an Elk Grove meat processing and packaging plant.

RICHFIELD, MN – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to recover more than $508,000 in back wages and liquidated damages owed to employees of two Richfield grocery stores whose operators paid them an “artificially” low hourly rate to make it appear the employers paid the proper overtime rate.

FLORENCE, WI – Despite federal regulations barring young workers from operating dangerous machinery, the management of a Wisconsin sawmill allowed several minors workers to perform maintenance on equipment without training or following required safety procedures.

On June 29, 2023, a 16-year-old worker became trapped in a stick stacker machine as he tried to unjam it. The young worker remained trapped until he was found and freed, and then transported to the hospital where he passed away two days later. 

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Employer:      

Atlanta United Interiors

265 18th St. NW 

Atlanta, GA 30318 

Employer:      Hale Vietnam Inc.

                        1140 12th Ave.

WESTBURY, NY – A Long Island awnings company and its owner will pay $252,370 in back wages and damages to nearly three dozen workers whose employers intentionally denied them overtime wages over a three-year period, after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The owner and operator of four western Michigan convenience stores agreed to pay $36,528 in back wages and damages to 13 workers to resolve a lawsuit brought by the U.S.

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Empleador:    Atlanta United Interiors

265 18th St. NW

Atlanta, GA 30318

BOSTON – In a complaint filed in Vermont federal court, the U.S. Department of Labor has alleged that a Milton excavation company retaliated against an employee in social media posts after the company’s workers received back wages and damages in 2023, resulting from an investigation into the employer’s pay practices.

Employers:    Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC

                        Carla Bland, human resources director

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the final rule to implement the requirements of Executive Order 14055, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts,” which seeks to prevent the displacement of skilled and experienced workers in the federal services workforce.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A federal court in Michigan has ordered the owner of a Haslett assisted living facility, 

who allegedly threatened to fire three employees after she suspected they cooperated with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, to attend training on federal anti-retaliation regulations and pay back wages and damages.

WASHINGTON – When a group of bakery distribution drivers filed a lawsuit alleging that Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC owed them overtime compensation and misclassified them as independent contractors rather than employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the company countersued the workers.

WASHINGTON – Como la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU.