Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The parent company and president of Ballard’s Inn, a Block Island, R.I., restaurant, have agreed to pay 154 employees a total of $207,650 in back wages, and to pay a civil money penalty totaling $42,350 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Shoreham Inc. and Marion Filippi agreed, without admitting liability, to the entry of a consent judgment approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island prohibiting them from future violations of the minimum wage, overtime and child labor provisions of the FLSA. The judgment also orders them to pay the back wages. In a separate proceeding before the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, the defendants agreed to pay the department the noted civil money penalty, which had been assessed by the department for willful violations of the law.

“We are pleased with the resolution of this matter,” said Dianne Miller, director of the department’s Wage and Hour Division district office in Hartford, Conn. “All employers should be aware of their obligations under the law to properly pay employees for all hours worked. This case demonstrates that the Labor Department will not hesitate to enforce the law through litigation if necessary.”

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. The law also requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained. The youth employment provisions of the FLSA prohibit youth under 18 from performing hazardous jobs and restrict the hours that workers under age 16 may work.

The department’s suit, filed last April, alleged that, since May 1, 2004, the defendants repeatedly and willfully failed to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage and often required employees to work more than 40 hours in a workweek without properly compensating them for overtime.

An investigation by Miller’s office prompted the filing of the department’s suit. For more information about the FLSA, call the department’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Chao v. Shoreham Inc. et al; Civil Action Number: 07-120-S

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