Date of Action: Sept. 16, 2015

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Lawsuit

Names of Defendants: Marketing Solutions Group Inc., d/b/a Wise Debt Relief; d/b/a GoWize; d/b/a Consumers Legal Center and Michael S. Gross

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found Marketing Solutions Group Inc. and its owner, Michael Gross violated the FLSA's overtime and minimum wage provisions.

Employers: Hope Medical Transportation

Sites: 2231 S. 48th Street, Suite 104, Tempe, Arizona, 85282

Investigation findings: Wage and Hour investigators established that Hope Medical Transportation, a non-emergency medical transportation company, did not pay overtime to workers paid on a salary basis when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The employer failed to keep an accurate record of hours worked, and misclassified most of its drivers as independent contractors until January 2014.

NEW YORK — Carlos Moncayo, a 22-year-old laborer from Queens, was trying to make a living as he worked on the construction of a Restoration Hardware store at 19 Ninth Ave. in Manhattan on April 6, 2015. Instead, his life ended that day when the 14-foot-deep trench in which he was working collapsed and buried him beneath tons of soil and debris.

Employer name: Bancroft Bags Inc. in West Monroe, Louisiana

Citations issued: Oct. 7, 2015

PORTLAND, OREGON — After spending days fighting fires, clearing brush and performing arduous physical tasks, U.S. Forest Service employees should return to a safe home base after work. Yet repeated inspections of national forests throughout Oregon during the last 10 years have found the opposite, with the Forest Service cited by federal inspectors for widespread safety violations nine out of every 10 visits.

INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has found that Fastenal Company, North America's leading distributor of fastening products and a federal government contractor, discriminated against 171 job applicants who sought general warehouse positions at two of its distribution facilities in Indianapolis and Atlanta.

Employer name: Mark Mashuda Excavating Inc., 113 Lakeland Drive, Mars, Pennsylvania. The inspection site was the Peachmont Farms Development, Evans City, Pennyslvania, where workers were installing a sewer line.

Citations issued: On September 29, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued two willful one serious safety citations.

Employer name: Endicott Clay Products, Endicott, Nebraska

Citations received: Oct. 6, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Omaha Area Office cited the Endicott brick manufacturing plant for three serious safety violations, after a 41-year-old worker was fatally crushed in a machine on June 16, 2015.

Employer names: Arthur Funk & Sons Inc., a commercial and institutional building construction contractor located at 1405 Birch Road, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and Weaver Construction and Roofing Inc., a roofing contractor located at 4873 Division Highway, East Earl, Pennsylvania.

The inspected worksite was located at 844 Tuck Street, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where construction of a new cancer center for Good Samaritan Hospital is underway. Funk was the general contractor and Weaver was a subcontractor to Funk.

WASHINGTON — The non-profit, non-partisan Partnership for Public Service, at an awards ceremony tonight, will present the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, known as "Sammies," to public servants in recognition of their outstanding achievements. Edward C. Hugler, deputy assistant secretary for operations at the U.S. Department of Labor, will be honored with the Management Excellence Medal.

ATLANTA — One of the world's largest chicken processors systematically discriminated against qualified African-American applicants seeking entry-level jobs as laborers and operatives at its chicken plant in Marshville, North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs alleges in a lawsuit filed against Pilgrim's Pride Corporation.

Employer name: Big Lots Stores Inc.

Inspection site: 10 Newbury St., Danvers, Mass. 01923

What prompted inspection: An assistant manager was hospitalized after boxes of patio furniture and other stock, weighing up to 53 pounds each, fell and struck him in the store's rear stockroom.

ATLANTA – North Carolina residents - emergency workers, employers and the public - recovering from the impact of Hurricane Joaquin should be aware of the hazards they may encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges.

ARLINGTON, Va. – In a Sept. 29 ruling, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission overturned an administrative law judge's decision that invalidated an enforcement action taken two years ago against a West Virginia coal mine operator. Using one of its toughest enforcement tools, the Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a pattern of violations notice to Brody Mining LLC of Wharton in October 2013.

NEWARK, N.J. — Citing "pervasive skimming from employees' tips and wages," the U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Saddle Brook-based company that operates Houlihan's restaurants in New Jersey and New York and their owner for violations of the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer name: Wei's Hibachi Buffet LLC, doing business as Hibachi Buffet

Investigation site: 13151 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, Florida 33618

Employer name: Exist Inc.

Investigation site: 1650 NW 23 Ave, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311

Discount retailer faces $66K in OSHA fines for recurring hazards

Employer name: Big Lots Stores Inc.

Inspection site: 10 Newbury St., Danvers, Mass. 01923

What prompted inspection: An assistant manager was hospitalized after boxes of patio furniture and other stock, weighing up to 53 pounds each, fell and struck him in the store's rear stockroom.

ATLANTA — North Carolina residents - emergency workers, employers and the public - recovering from the impact of Hurricane Joaquin should be aware of the hazards they may encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges.