Four Minneapolis restaurants with shared ownership will pay $105,784 in back wages, damages and penalties to resolve violations identified by U.S. Department of Labor, including illegally firing an employee who cooperated with investigators.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Boludo Holding Co. and its owners, Jerad Rassmussen and Facundo Defraia, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act‘s overtime provisions in several ways and deprived 51 employees of $44,915 in earned overtime wages at Boludo El 38, Boludo Downtown, Boludo Uptown and Boludo Como, and terminated one worker at its Uptown restaurant after they spoke with investigators.
“Retaliating against workers who engage in protected activities, such as cooperating with a federal investigation, is a blatant violation of the law that we will not tolerate,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kristin Tout in Minneapolis. “The Department of Labor remains firmly committed to protecting workers against retaliation and ensuring they are paid fully for their hours worked.”
In addition to owing $44,915 in back wages, the restaurants’ operators are also liable for an equal amount in liquidated damages, bringing the total recovery for the affected workers to $89,830. The division also assessed the restaurant group with $15,954 in civil money penalties for child labor and tip retention violations.
The investigation was part of an initiative by the division to examine common food service industry violations by Midwest employers.
Source: Department of Labor
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