A northern New Jersey staffing agency must pay $65,000 in damages to an employee who was fired after raising concerns about not getting paid for every hour he worked.
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued the order after the Labor Department’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) determined Advantix Logistics Corp. of Lyndhurst, N.J. fired the employee in February for his complaints to a supervisor that his pay did not cover all the hours he had worked, the DOL reported Nov. 3.
The investigation found also that Advantix threatened the employee for questioning the amount of his final paycheck and attempted to keep other workers from cooperating with investigators, the DOL reports, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
“Federal law protects workers’ rights to come forward and make a complaint when employers deny them their hard-earned wages and prevents employers from retaliating or intimidating those who raise concerns,” said Paula Ruffin, Wage & Hour district director in Mountainside, New Jersey, in the report.
“The Wage and Hour Division will vigorously investigate complaints of improper pay practices or illegal retaliation by employers and enforce the law,” Ruffin said.
Advantix was also ordered to not intimidate or retaliate against current or former employees "who complain about pay, speak with investigators, or otherwise assert their FLSA rights," the report states, as well as being prohibited from interfering or obstructing WHD investigations.
“The outcome of this case makes clear the U.S. Department of Labor does not tolerate illegal retaliation that interferes with workers’ rights and protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said New York Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in the report.
“The Department of Labor will act aggressively to stop employers from retaliating against their employees, and make it clear that retaliating against workers can have very costly consequences and will seek punitive damages when appropriate,” Rogoff added.
