November 29, 2016

US Department of Labor files suit alleging Michigan DHHS, Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital violated Family and Medical Leave Act

Date of Action: Nov. 28, 2016

Type of Action: Family and Medical Leave Act complaint

Name of Defendants: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital

November 28, 2016

Construction company to pay $21K in back wages to 19 employees after US Labor Department investigation

Employer name: Environmental Painting Alternatives Inc.     

Investigation site: 1130 S. Rio Grande Ave.
Orlando, Florida 32805        

November 28, 2016

Ashley Furniture franchisee ordered to pay $216K in back wages, damages, penalties in US Labor Department settlement

Date of Action: Nov. 22, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit settlement and entry of judgment and injunction

Name of Defendant: Han Nara Enterprises L.P.
Lubbock, Texas

November 21, 2016

US Labor Department recovers $1.2M for workers on Manhattan’s federally funded Chambers Street Project

NEW YORK – Sixty-three workers employed on the federally funded reconstruction of Chambers Street between Broadway and West St. in Lower Manhattan will receive a total of $1,190,861 in back wages following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, in keeping with a consent order  approved by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

November 21, 2016

Judge approves order that Puerto Rico Police Department pay $8.7M to 2,642 officers, take additional corrective action to comply with federal wage law

Date of Action: Nov. 15, 2016

Type of Action: Consent judgment

Name of Defendants: Puerto Rico Police Department
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

November 17, 2016

Jacksonville, Florida, diner to pay $154K in back wages to 59 employees after US Department of Labor investigation

Employer name: Windy City Doc Holding LLC, doing business as Metro Diner

Investigation site: 1534 North 3rd St.
Jacksonville, Florida 32250

November 16, 2016

Washington residential care company to pay $518K in back wages, damages to 39 caregivers for minimum wage, overtime violations

Employer: Good Shepherd Home Inc., a residential care facility doing business as Good Shepherd Home, with locations in Shoreline, Washington

Sites:

November 10, 2016

Minnesota cable equipment recovery company to pay $350K to 41 drivers, market contractors misclassified as independent contractors

OAKDALE, Minn. – A Minnesota company that provided cable equipment recovery services to leading cable providers such as Comcast, Time Warner and Charter Communications, will pay $350,000 to drivers and market contractors misclassified as independent contractors to resolve a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit.  

November 7, 2016

Florida plastic recycler pays $424K in back wages to 195 employees after US Labor Department investigation finds FLSA violations

Employer name: Ravago Americas LLC

Investigation site: 1900 Summit Blvd., #900
Orlando, Florida 32810

November 1, 2016

Michigan logging company pays more than $193K in unpaid overtime wages, damages to 15 drivers, loggers for willful violations

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment

Names of Defendants: T. R. Timber Company
Tony M. Rosenbrugh

Findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that T.R. Timber Company and its majority owner, Tony M. Rosenbrugh, failed to pay truck drivers and hourly employees overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a work week in violation of the FLSA.

October 31, 2016

US Labor Department sues Houston-area residential group home operator seeking $2.2M in unpaid wages, liquidated damages for 68 employees

Date of Action: Oct. 27, 2016

Type of Action: Lawsuit

Name of Defendants: Five Oaks Achievement Center LLC
Whispering Hills Achievement Center LLC
North Fork Educational Center LLC

October 24, 2016

US Labor Department investigation finds Tampa fire prevention company failed to pay employees overtime compensation, keep records

Employer name: Universal Fire Systems Inc.  

Investigation site: 374 Hobbs Road
Tampa, Florida 33619

Investigation findings: Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

October 20, 2016

US Labor Department announces hotline to offer updates to Capitol Hill cafeteria workers owed back wage payments

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a hotline available for nearly 700 U.S. Senate cafeteria food service workers owed back wages by their employers. The hotline will provide workers who prepare and serve meals to Capitol Hill lawmakers and their staffs with updates on the status of back wage payments owed to them.

October 20, 2016

US Labor Department investigation finds ThunderCloud Subs owes nearly $128K in back wages, damages to Austin restaurant workers

Employers: Cumulus Inc.
ThunderCloud Inc.

Site: Several locations in Austin, Texas

October 19, 2016

US Labor Department conducting wage survey of Connecticut building construction projects to ensure workers receive proper wages

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting a building construction survey in Connecticut to collect data on wages paid to workers to help establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

The survey includes wages paid on all building construction projects between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016. It is not limited to federally funded construction projects.

October 19, 2016

Puerto Rico Police Department to pay $8.7M to 2,642 officers following US Labor Department investigation, litigation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The U.S. Department of Labor requested that a federal judge approve a consent judgment requiring the Puerto Rico Police Department to pay $8,732,386 in back wages and interest to 2,642 current and former police officers who did not receive all their overtime wages required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

October 18, 2016

Louisiana nursing home operator pays nearly $120K in penalties, back wages, damages to resolve violations following federal investigation

NEW ORLEANS – Two U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigations found that a nursing care operator with multiple southern Louisiana facilities violated the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

October 18, 2016

US Labor Department sues Gloucester seafood processor, Lowell employment agency to recover at least $272K in wages, damages for 55 employees

BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is suing a Gloucester seafood processing, packing and distribution business; a Lowell temporary employment agency and payroll service that supplies temporary workers exclusively to the business, and their respective owners, for underpaying 55 vulnerable low-wage workers, falsifying records and taking improper payroll deductions from some of the employees.

October 17, 2016

Lawsuit seeks more than $41K in unpaid overtime, minimum wages for 30 employees of Cincinnati vehicle repo service

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit filing

Names of Defendant(s): ARS Ohio LLC
Gary C. (“Chris”) Finn
Karen Finn

October 17, 2016

US Labor Department sues Arkansas agricultural equipment maintenance company for $64K in unpaid wages, liquidated damages for workers

Date of Action: Oct. 5, 2016

Type of Action: Filing of lawsuit

Name of Defendants: Bailey Picker Repair
Burley Glenn Bailey, owner and manager