Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

NEW YORK -- Gold City Supermarket Inc., Flushing, Queens, N.Y., and two company owners have agreed to pay nearly $229,000 in overtime back wages and interest to 99 employees to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

According to Philip Jacobson, district director for the department’s Wage and Hour Division in New York City, an investigation by his office found employees were not properly compensated for all the hours over 40 they worked in typical work weeks, and that the employer was not maintaining proper records of employees’ hours of work and rates of pay. Also named in the Labor Department’s lawsuit were owners Tisno S. Hasan and Kuan He Wu.

“This court action,” said Jacobson, “demonstrates that the Labor Department is very serious about enforcing the FLSA and ensuring that employees are always properly paid for all of the hours they work, especially when it comes to workers employed in low-wage industries.”

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the applicable minimum wage and one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

A consent judgment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, prohibits the defendants from future violations of the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the FLSA. The court order, signed by Judge Dora Lizette Irizarry on April 21, also prohibits the defendants from taking retaliatory action against any employees who exercise their rights under the law and orders them to pay a total of $228,950.43 in back wages and interest over an 18-month installment period. The payments cover the period between Oct. 1, 2003 and Oct. 31, 2005.

According to the judgment, the court will appoint a receiver to collect the back wages in the event the defendants fail to make any of the payments. The receiver would have the power to seize and liquidate any of the defendants’ assets in order to satisfy the back wage payment order. Finally, the defendants are ordered to advise their employees of their rights under the FLSA, the terms of the judgment, and their rights to engage in protected activities under the FLSA without fear of retaliation. Official posters must also be posted where all employees may view them. The defendants agreed to the entry of the consent judgment without admitting or denying any violations of the FLSA.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division New York district office investigated this case, and the lawsuit was filed by the department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in New York City. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

###

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.