Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- Tremont Car Wash Inc. and Webster Car Wash Inc., both located in the Bronx, as well as two related companies and corporate president Jenny Monteiro, have agreed to pay 237 employees a total of $707,298 in back wages and liquidated damages to resolve their part of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The suit was filed July 28, 2005, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and named as defendants a number of related businesses and individuals, including the above-named. The suit followed an investigation by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division that disclosed violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions. The investigation revealed that many low-wage employees of the defendants, mostly car washers, were required to work over 70 hours per week without being paid at least the federal minimum wage and proper overtime compensation. The defendants also failed to maintain adequate and accurate records of wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. Employers are also required to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

“This case should be a stark reminder to other employers of low-wage workers throughout the city that the federal Department of Labor will not hesitate to take them to court in order to compel them to pay employees properly for all hours worked,” said Philip Jacobson, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in New York City.

A partial consent judgment, signed by Judge Barbara Jones, prohibits the defendants from future violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions, and orders them to pay employees the back wages and liquidated damages. If the defendants fail to make the payments, the court will appoint a receiver with power to seize and liquidate their assets to satisfy the order. Finally, the defendants must post official posters explaining employee rights under the FLSA where all employees may view them.

Jacobson added: “This judgment also serves to show the most vulnerable workers that the Labor Department will enforce their rights and, through a court order, guarantees that hundreds of low-wage workers in the car wash industry will receive proper minimum wage and overtime pay in the future.”

Although not named as defendants in the department’s suit, two additional corporations, Al-Jo Real Estate Inc., also known as Webster Hand Car Wash, and Webster Oil Change Corp., have agreed to be bound by the terms of the consent judgment.

The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division office in Manhattan investigated this case, and the suit was filed by the department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in New York City. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, contact the Wage and Hour Division office in Manhattan at 212-264-8185 or call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Chao v. Atlantic Auto Care Center Inc., et al; Civil Action Number: 05-CV-6786

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