Flushing market pays $229G in overtime to 99 employees

On the heels of the “Forgotten Workers” survey, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced that Gold City Supermarket, Inc., located at 46-31 Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, and its owners, Tisno S. Hasan and Kuan He Wu, have agreed to pay nearly $229,000 in overtime back wages and interest to 99 employees.
The lawsuit covered a period of a little over two years and alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
“This . . . demonstrates that the Labor Department is very serious about enforcing 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,” said Philip Jacobson, district director for the department’s Wage and Hour Division in New York City.
An investigation by Jacobson’s office found that employees were not properly compensated for overtime hours they worked (anything over 40 per week) between October 1, 2003 and October 31, 2005, and that Hasan and Wu were not maintaining proper records of employees’ hours and rates of pay during that time.
Neither of the men was available for comment at press time.
The FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the applicable minimum wage and one and 1/2 times their regular rate of pay for overtime. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of wages, hours, and other conditions of employment.
A consent judgment in the case - in which the defendants neither admitted nor denied any violations of the FLSA - prohibits Gold City Supermarket and its owners from future violations of FLSA provisions, and prevents the defendants from taking retaliatory action against any employees.
As per the court’s determination, a so-called “receiver” will collect the back wages in the event the defendants fail to make any of the payments. The receiver will have the power to seize and liquidate any of the defendants’ assets in order to satisfy the back wage payment order.
If you or someone you know would like more information on the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866)-4USWAGE (866-487-9243), or visit www.wagehour.dol.gov.