US Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering North Jersey construction companies, owners to pay $600K in wages, damages to 131 workers

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US Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering North Jersey construction companies, owners to pay $600K in wages, damages to 131 workers

Investigation finds employers schemed to deny employees overtime wages

NEWARK, NJ - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order that requires two New Jersey construction companies and their owners and managers to pay $600,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 131 former employees after a federal investigation found the employers engaged in an illegal bonus pay scheme.

Entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the consent judgment follows an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division and litigation by the department's Office of the Solicitor. The division found that masonry and concrete contractors Innovative Design and Development LLC, E&N Construction Inc. and Shawn Roney, Joaquim Ferreira and Elio Ferreira -the companies' owners and operators -engaged in illegal pay practices.

Specifically, the division found that in addition to a weekly check for 40 hours worked, the Newark-based employers paid employees with a second bonus check for overtime hours at their regular rate of pay rather than the overtime rate of one-and-one-half times the regular rate, as required by law. They also discovered the employers tried to hide the scheme by not keeping adequate and accurate records of daily and weekly hours worked. These actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

"For years, Shawn Roney, Joaquim Ferreira, Elio Ferreira and their companies schemed to withhold overtime wages earned by their hard-working employees and tried to cover up their wage theft by falsifying records. Their actions were a gross violation of federal law," said Regional Solicitor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York. "The U.S. Department of Labor will use every means available and necessary, including litigation, to expose employers like these and hold them accountable for violating workers' rights."

In addition to requiring the employers to pay back wages and liquidated damages, the court forbid them from future FLSA violations, retaliation against their employees, directly or indirectly, and seeking or accepting any of the back wages or liquidated damages paid to employees. Any company that the individual defendants own or operate will also be bound by these provisions. Defendants must also distribute flyers and fact sheets on workers' rightsand overtime pay requirementsgoverned by the FLSA.

"These employers shortchanged people whose hard work enables their companies to profit and disregarded federal laws that protect workers' rights," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin, in Mountainside, New Jersey. "The outcome in this case shows there are costly consequences for violating employees' trust and federal law, and potentially serious harm to a business' public reputation."

The division's Northern New Jersey District Office conducted the investigation. Trial attorneys Andrew Katz, Peter F. Kellett and Frances Y. Ma litigated the case for the department's Office of the Solicitorin New York.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wagefor all hours worked and overtime payat not less than time and one-half their regular rate of payfor all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of their immigration status. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department's Android and iOS Timesheet Appfor free, available in English and Spanish.

Su v. Innovative Design and Development LLC; E&N Construction, Inc.; Joaquim Ferreira, individually; Shawn Roney, individually; and Elio Ferreira, individually.

Civil Case No.: 2:19-cv-18495(SDW)(JBC)

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