U.S. Marshals have arrested the owner of three New Jersey restaurants for refusing to comply with court orders to cooperate with a federal investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced recently.
Samad Uddin, also known as Saman Khan, was arrested Dec. 15 for failing to give to the DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) information the agency had requested in a compliance investigation ongoing since November 2020, the DOL announced at the time of the arrest. Uddin owns Manhattan Halal Gyro King LLC, with locations in Teaneck, Elmwood Park and Paterson, according to the announcement.
"The operator of three northern New Jersey restaurants has learned that not cooperating with a federal investigation and ignoring several federal court orders can get you arrested," the DOL states in the announcement.
DOL reports that Uddin refused on several occasions to provide documents and testimony in an investigation into whether the employer complied with pay practices per the Fair Labor Standards Act. After an administrative subpoena was issued in December 2020, WHD obtained a court order in May 2021 instructing the business order to comply with the subpoena; filed a motion to find Uddin in civil contempt and to issue fines; obtained a court order in March 2022 increasing fines to $1,000 per day, demanded payment of existing fines, and again ordered Uddin to comply with the subpoena within one week of the order or risk arrest; and asked the court to take Uddin into custody until he complied with the subpoena and court orders.
The request was approved by the court on Dec. 12, according to the report.
Jeffrey Rogoff, WHD regional solicitor in New York, said the arrest "shows that the U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate an employer’s unwillingness to comply with federal investigators.”
“The use of U.S. Marshals by a federal court also proves that we will use every available instrument to show employers are not above the law,” Rogoff said in the announcement.
WHD must be able to obtain payroll and other employment records from employers to ensure the business is in compliance with FLSA regulations, Mark Watson Jr, WHD regional administrator in Philadelphia, stated in the announcement.
“Employers cannot avoid their legal responsibilities by refusing to cooperate with investigators and withholding records they request,” Watson said.
