Employer:      BBQ Ookook Inc., operating as Oo-Kook Korean BBQ

                        3385 W. Eighth St.

ORLANDO, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $224,113 in lost wages and benefits for 37 Florida workers after finding two employers failed to pay fringe benefits and prevailing and overtime wages to employees working on a new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty outpatient clinic in Daytona Beach.

Employers:      Duckels Construction Inc., Fred Duckels, owner 

Actions:           U.S. Mine Safety and Health Act consent order and judgment 

Court:               U.S. District Court of Colorado 

PHOENIX – A federal court has ordered a Phoenix industrial laundry and dry-cleaning company to pay a total of $281,870 after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer engaged in a kickback scheme after the department recovered more than $94,135 in overtime wages for 70 workers in 2020. 

MIAMI – One of the country’s largest public universities has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor in which the employer will pay $575,000 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged pay discrimination identified in a routine compliance review.

DECATUR, IL ‒ A lack of preventative maintenance on the explosion suppression system of a bucket elevator was a major factor in an April 20, 2023, explosion at Archer-Daniels-Midland Company’s West Plant that resulted in the hospitalization of three employees with burns and other injuries and extensive damage to the grain elevator, federal investigators found. 

Empleador:    Macarios Inc., Los Primos Inc., Dos Oros Inc., operando como Mayan Mexican Restaurant

                        4520 Pacific Ave. SE

Employer:      Macarios Inc., Los Primos Inc., Dos Oros Inc., operating as Mayan Mexican Restaurant

                        4520 Pacific Ave. SE

BOSTON – A federal court in Boston has entered a consent judgment ordering a New Jersey-based framing contractor to pay 61 construction employees $283,492 in back wages and liquidated damages and $46,507 in punitive damages to two former employees, allegedly fired for cooperating with U.S. Department of Labor investigators. 

Employers:    Great Lakes Care Companions Inc., Juan G. Salazar, owner

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

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

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with Pfizer Inc.

NEW YORK – Two employees of a Bronx water and sewer line construction contractor were fatally injured in a trench at a construction site at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens on April 3, 2023. These fatalities could have been prevented if their employer, Triumph Construction Corp., had ensured proper safeguards, a federal investigation found.

HEBRON, KY – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent judgment that requires the operator of a Hebron warehouse and distribution center to stop employing children illegally and to not violate federal child labor laws in the future.

OAKLAND, CA – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su today released the following statement after a tentative labor agreement was reached between leaders for the coalition representing health care workers and Kaiser Permanente:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with US Foods Inc. to resolve alleged hiring discrimination at the food distributor's five locations in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and North Carolina.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with Pitney Bowes, to resolve alleged hiring discrimination at five of its facilities. 

Pursuant to the agreement, Pitney Bowes will pay $1,590,000 in back wages and interest to 468 applicants. The company will extend 106 job offers to the affected applicants.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su joined the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United in New York City on Oct. 11, 2023, for a roundtable highlighting issues faced by restaurant workers.

VERONA, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation agreement with Daikin Industries to resolve alleged race-based hiring discrimination affecting Black applicants at its Verona facility.

ALLENTOWN, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into a conciliation with B. Braun Medical Inc., to resolve allegations that the federal contractor breached a 2020 agreement to address discrimination against female employees and applicants at its Allentown manufacturing facility.

TULSA, OK – Three federal workplace safety and health investigations that followed the April 2023 death of a worker at a Tulsa manufacturing facility found the company exposed employees to struck-by hazards and identified 36 violations, including 25 serious safety violations of U.S. Department of Labor regulations.