The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court judgment requiring 15 gas stations—incorporated under individual company names, operating under brands including bp, Mobil and Sunoco in Bronx, Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York—and their owner and president to pay more than $1 million in back wages and liquidated damages to more than 100 current and former employees in response to a federal investigation.
In March 2022, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York based on an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division which found that from 2015 through 2018, businesses owned by Jagjit Singh failed to pay employees overtime, paid some less than minimum wage and did not keep wage records as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Specifically, the division found the employer violated federal law by withholding overtime pay from employees who often worked well over 40 hours per week, including some who exceeded 85 hours per week and instead, paying straight-time rates when the required overtime rates were owed; failing to pay some employees at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour; and not maintaining accurate or complete records of wages, hours and other employment conditions. Some stations had no records before 2017 or incomplete records.
In addition to requiring Singh and his businesses to pay $549,673 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the judgment directs the employers to pay $75,655 in civil money penalties to the department for the willful nature of the violations.
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