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ESA-WHD New Release: [05/14/1996]
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: (617) 565-2075
Release Number: BOS 96-077
BOZRAH, CONNECTICUT, EMPLOYERS ORDERED TO PAY 34 EMPLOYEES $80,000 IN BACK WAGES FOR FEDERAL WAGE & HOUR LAW VIOLATIONS
BOSTON, MA — Sam Kofkoff and Joe Fortin, partners in and operators of Kofkoff Egg Farms of Bozrah, Connecticut, have been ordered to pay 34 employees $80,000 in back wages as the result of a judgment issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
The court order, agreed to by the parties and signed by U.S. District Judge Dominick J. Squatrito, resolves a suit filed against the defendants by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including failure to pay employees the applicable federal minimum wage, and failure to maintain adequate and accurate payroll records.
According to Dianne Miller, Connecticut District Director for the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), a total of $80,000 is due 34 employees who worked for the defendants' egg farming operation for the period of time between May 1992 and June 1994.
Miller noted that the order also prohibits the defendants, who agreed to entry of the judgment without admitting liability, from future violations of the minimum wage and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Passed in 1938, the FLSA--also known as the federal wage and hour law--today covers more than 80 million workers nationwide, explained Miller. The law, enforced by the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, sets the federal minimum wage at $4.25 per hour and generally requires overtime for hours worked over 40 in any workweek. It also prohibits child labor abuse and requires employers to keep adequate time and payroll records.
Miller stressed that Wage and Hour Administrator Maria Echaveste has directed the Wage and Hour Division to adopt a strategy of tough, responsible, and consistent enforcement, which includes getting results swiftly and efficiently through litigation when necessary.
The department's legal action against the firm followed an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division district office headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.
The civil action file number for this case is 395CV00789 DJS.
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