DOL orders Asian grocer in Utah to pay $525K in back wages, fines

One of Utah’s largest Asian grocers has been ordered to pay $525,000 in back wages and damages after the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) found the grocer violated labor laws, the DOL announced this week. The DOL said it has recovered $502,609 in back wages and liquidated damages for 148 people thus far.

The agency also filed suit to stop Chinatown Supermarket LLC, located at 3390 South State St. in Salt Lake City, Utah, from interfering with an investigation into the employer’s compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Wage and Hour Division obtained a preliminary injunction against Chinatown Supermarket LLC for “attempting to prevent investigators from interviewing employees and instructing employees to tell investigators that they did not work more than 40 hours per week,” a DOL statement said.

The agency obtained documents about the companies’ pay practices that revealed Chinatown Supermarket LLC only reported up to 80 hours in a pay period and didn’t give employees the legally required time-and-a-half premium for working more than 40 hours, the DOL said.

In an April 21 consent judgment, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, required Chinatown Supermarket LLC and Chinatown Wholesale LLC to pay back wages and liquidated damages, and to comply with the FLSA or face additional consequences.

The consent judgment required the employers to pay $251,305 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected employees, and as well as $22,390 in civil money penalties for the overtime violations, according to a DOL press release.

Chinatown Supermarket LLC and Chinatown Wholesale LLC are owned by the same individual.

“Supermarket industry workers are often paid flat daily or weekly rates of pay and are deprived of their earned overtime pay. These workers depend on every dollar they earn to care for themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “The Department of Labor will hold employers fully accountable to prevent future violations and make sure competitors are not undercut by illegal pay practices. Our work helps workers and employers who follow the law.”

Regional Solicitor of Labor John Rainwater, who is based in Denver, noted in a statement that “the U.S. Department of Labor will work vigorously to protect workers when employers mistakenly think they can retaliate against them exercising their rights. The department is dedicated to making sure workers are paid as required by federal law. No employee should fear their employer’s wrath for reporting pay concerns.”

WGB reached out to Chinatown Supermarket LLC via email on Thursday but the grocer did not immediately respond.