New York Paralegal Blog

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a permanent injunction in U.S. district court against CAM Mining LLC of Pike County, Ky., prohibiting advance communication of any federal mine inspection.

ARLINGTON, Va. — On behalf of its Mine Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor has filed complaints in U.S. district courts against two companies in North Carolina and Texas to collect unpaid civil fines resulting from federal mine safety violations.

BATESVILLE, Miss. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued 33 citations to the Parker Hannifin Corp. plant in Batesville, alleging numerous safety and health violations as the result of an inspection that began November 2010. Proposed penalties total $487,700. Cleveland, Ohio-based Parker Hannifin has 170 facilities throughout the U.S. and manufactures machinery for hydraulics, air conditioning, refrigeration and aerospace systems. OSHA issued 16 repeat citations with $407,000 in fines. Fifteen are safety-related and cover such violations as allowing the air pressure to exceed more than 30 pounds per square inch for cleaning equipment, failing to conduct periodic inspections of the lockout/tagout process in place to prevent accidental energy start-up, failing to train workers on lockout/tagout procedures, failing to unblock exit doors and routes, failing to provide machine guarding and failing to correct electrical deficiencies. On...

DES MOINES, Iowa – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a partial summary judgment requiring Hill Country Farms, doing business as Henry’s Turkey Service, and president Kenneth Henry to pay more than $1.76 million in back wages and liquidated damages for violating the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.  The judgment partially resolves a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department following an investigation by the Des Moines District Office of its Wage and Hour Division.  The judgment, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Davenport, concluded that the defendants willfully violated the FLSA by failing to properly pay 31 workers with disabilities.  Henry’s Turkey Service supplied the workers to the West Liberty Foods turkey processing plant in West Liberty, where most worked on the plant’s processing line “Working on a poultry processing line is a particularly difficult...

Back wages paid to 865 employees working at Ft. Irwin WEST COVINA, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has resolved an investigation against contractor CALNET Inc. and two subcontractors providing language, intelligence and information technology services to the U.S. Army at Ft. Irwin, Calif. The three companies had paid employees improperly for on-call time. "Contractors and subcontractors hired to perform services for the U.S. military have a clear obligation to comply thoroughly and consistently with federal law," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "As we do with all other employers, we will hold these businesses accountable for paying their workers for all hours, including any overtime, spent on the job."

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding a June 21 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Coalition for Parity Inc. v. Sebelius et. al.: "We are very pleased that the court ruled in favor of the U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services, thereby allowing us to continue a regulatory process designed to benefit vulnerable members of our society. It will make mental health benefits more affordable by putting the cost on par with other health benefits.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Tyson Foods Inc. has agreed to a nationwide injunction that will require the company to pay its poultry processing workers for all hours that they work. In addition, Tyson Foods has agreed to pay almost 3,000 workers at its Blountsville, Ala., facility $500,000 in overtime back wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. “No employee should be made to work without compensation,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “I am pleased that, as result of this agreement, poultry processing employees at Tyson Foods plants will receive the full wages that they rightfully earn and deserve.”

BOSTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $1.5 million in back wages for 272 employees of SI International SEIT Inc., a contractor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Vermont Service Center, at various locations in St. Albans and Essex Junction, Vt. SI International SEIT Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SI International Inc., employed workers at the Vermont Service Center under federal service contracts subject to the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act's prevailing wage provisions. Following an investigation, the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division cited the company for misclassifying employees and failing to pay them the proper prevailing wage rates for the type of work they were actually performing.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a regulation to assess civil penalties against plan sponsors of multiemployer defined benefit pension plans that fail to adopt a funding improvement or rehabilitation plan in accordance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) as amended by the Pension Protection Act (PPA). The PPA amended ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to require those plans certified to be in endangered or critical status to adopt a funding improvement plan or a rehabilitation plan within 240 days from the required date of the certification. PPA also gave the Labor Department authority to assess civil monetary penalties of up to $1,100 per day against plan sponsors that fail to timely adopt funding improvement or rehabilitation plans. The proposed regulation sets forth the administrative procedures for assessing and contesting such penalties.

FORT SMITH, Ark. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced Gerber Products Co. has agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 1,912 rejected minority and female applicants for entry-level positions. The agreement settles the department's allegations that Gerber engaged in hiring discrimination against minority and female applicants for one year. "This administration is committed to ensuring that all Americans are hired, promoted, and compensated fairly, without respect to their race, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, or veterans' status," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "This settlement of $900,000 on behalf of more than 1,912 minorities and females should put all federal contractors on notice that the Labor Department is serious about eliminating systemic discrimination." During a scheduled compliance evaluation of Gerber Products in Fort Smith, OFCCP investigator...

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct Vinyl-Mark Products Inc. of Hueytown, Ala., and the company's pension and profit sharing plan trustees for allegedly misusing $898,259.69 in plan assets to pay the operating expenses of the company. The lawsuit alleges that the company, formerly known as First Alabama Supply Co. Inc. and trustees Willard D. Bailey Jr. and Jessie Mae Bailey violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The trustees allegedly made a series of transfers from the plans to the operating accounts of the company at various times between October 2004 and February 2007. "The department will not tolerate the misuse of workers' retirement savings to subsidize corporate expenses," said Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). "Our legal action is designed to ensure these workers are made whole and prevent the trustees from misusing employee ...

Violations disclosed in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas TULSA, Okla. — QuikTrip Corp. has agreed to pay $747,729 in overtime back wages for 3,819 current and former convenience store workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division's Arkansas-Oklahoma District Office. "I am pleased that this case has resulted in almost $750,000 in back wages being paid to thousands of workers across nine states," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "I am committed to ensuring that every worker is paid the full wages he or she is due, and that those who work overtime receive the compensation to which they are legally entitled." The investigation found that Tulsa-based QuikTrip had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay its employees the overtime compensation they were legally entitled to receive. QuikTrip failed to pay the additional overtime premium due on ...

Partners HealthCare Systems Inc. and its affiliated hospitals and health care companies throughout eastern Massachusetts have agreed to pay 700 employees more than $2.7 million in overtime back wages to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). "We are pleased that the department has succeeded in securing such a substantial amount of back wages for these workers who were not properly paid for overtime they had worked," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. 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 beyond 40 per week. The law also requires that employers maintain accurate records of employees' wages, hours and conditions of employment. Partners' management contacted the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division after realizing that affiliated companies might be in violation of the FLS...

The U.S. Department of Labor today certified for release $100,383,562 in unemployment insurance (UI) modernization incentive funds to the state of Illinois. Illinois qualified for the funds available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) by allowing workers to use their more recent earnings to qualify for benefits. Illinois' approved application will be posted at the department's Employment and Training Administration Web site at: http://www.doleta.gov/recovery. "Illinois recognizes the importance of providing an economic safety net to workers who have entered the workforce recently and lost their jobs through no fault of their own," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "It is the right thing to do for workers and is good for the state's economic recovery." The Illinois Department of Employment Security can use the funds to pay unemployment benefits or, if appropriated by the legislature, for administering its unemployment i...

(USDOL) Sandia Corp., doing business as Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, has agreed to pay $2,077,248 in overtime back wages to 2,657 research employees after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). "Among the department's highest priorities is ensuring that workers are paid all the wages they are owed," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "In this case, we have succeeded in securing more than $2 million in back wages for these workers." Full Story...

(USDOL) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) today announced the publication of a final rule on priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses. The new regulations apply to "any workforce preparation, development or delivery program or service that is directly funded, in whole or in part, by the Department of Labor," as provided by the Jobs for Veterans Act (P.L. 107-288), enacted in 2002. "Priority of service is an important acknowledgment of the sacrifices of the men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces," said Charles Ciccolella, assistant secretary of labor for VETS. "The department's strategic vision for priority of service honors veterans and eligible spouses of veterans as our heroes at home, and envisions that the employment and training programs funded by the department, including the workforce investment system, will identify, inform and deliver comprehensiv...