HARTFORD, Conn. — Two Fairfield County restaurants and their owners are now facing a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly threatening to retaliate against workers to kick back wages.
The department announced Monday it had obtained a court order blocking the owners of Chubby's in Bridgeport and the Old Dog Tavern in Stratford from retaliating against its employees and filed a lawsuit to recover the money they allegedly stole from their workers.
According to a release, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found employers the two restaurants had violated minimum wage and overtime requirements and they were required to pay $137,464 in back wages and liquidated damages to workers.
However, officials said Christopher Delmonico, owner of the former Chubby’s and the co-owner of The Ole Dog Tavern, and Niall O’Neill, co-owner of The Ole Dog Tavern, allegedly threatened to retaliate against employees to coerce them into kicking back thousands of dollars of back wage owed to workers.
The DOL reports the owners' actions included:
- Driving two employees to a bank to cash their checks for back wages or liquidated damages and demanding payment in the parking lot.
- Threatening one employee with blacklisting.
- Firing another employee and disparaging him to future employers.
- Threatening to report employees to immigration and law enforcement agencies if they failed to give up the monies to which they were entitled.
The DOL said it obtained the new court order prohibiting the restaurants and their owners from employment retaliation.
The lawsuit seeks to:
- Prevent the defendants from seeking to have any employee kick back or return any money that is due to them.
- Award employees damages in the amounts of the back wages and/or liquidated damages the defendants forced them to return, or prevent the defendants from withholding the back wages from the employees.
- Award back pay to compensate an employee whom Delmonico terminated unlawfully.
- Award punitive damages for the defendants’ retaliation against certain employees.
- Prevent the defendants from violating the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements in the future.
Regional Solicitor of Labor, Maia Fisher said the department will not tolerate employers threatening employees unlawfully with immigration consequences, law enforcement action, termination, or blacklisting for asserting their workplace rights or keeping money that they are due.
"Employers that do so should be prepared to see us in court. Effective enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act can occur only if employees feel free to assert their rights without fear of retaliation," she said. "The department will take swift legal action to defend workers who assert their rights from threats, intimidation, harassment and any other adverse action."
Sarah Thomas, the Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director, said the owners' actions are illegal and unacceptable.
"They not only cheat workers, they also place law-abiding employers at a competitive disadvantage," she added."
--
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
