Davy's Locker restaurant of New Bedford, Mass., has agreed to pay $130,000 in
back wages and civil penalties to settle lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department
of Labor alleging violations of federal youth employment and overtime pay laws
and the threatening of workers who cooperated with a federal wage and hour investigation.
The complaint, filed this January in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Massachusetts, alleged that the defendants willfully violated the federal
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by employing workers for workweeks longer that
40 hours without paying them overtime wages; threatening adverse action against
employees who cooperated with the department's Wage and Hour Division investigation;
and employing young workers in violation of federal youth employment laws.
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Download NowWithout admitting liability, the defendants have agreed to the terms of a consent
judgment, which enjoins the defendants from future violations of the FLSA and
orders them to pay 21 employees $20,800, including $13,825 in back wages and
$6,975 in damages.
The defendants have also agreed to pay civil penalties for willful FLSA
violations totaling $109,200.
The most serious child labor charges involved the employment of minors under
18 years of age to work at tasks prohibited under hazardous occupation orders,
such as operating, setting up, adjusting or cleaning power-driven food slicers
and grinders, and/or bakery-type dough mixers, according to the department.
Other charges alleged that 14 and 15-year-old workers were employed in excess
of the legal hours and times permissible for this age group.
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