The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent judgment and order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Dec. 2, 2024, that requires D’Nuez Corp. and owners Antonio Rendon and Albino Rendon – operators of three restaurants in Chicago and Berwyn – to pay 53 employees a total of $125,000 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages – owed by the employer.
The judgment resolves a Nov. 13, 2024 complaint filed by the department after its Wage and Hour Division investigators found the family-operated Chicago companyand its owners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when they did the following:
- Failed to pay servers and kitchen staff an overtime premium of time and one-half their hourly rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The restaurants paid overtime hours in cash at straight time.
- Failed to display a Fair Labor Standards Act poster as required.
The court’s action follows the division’s review of payroll records at two Mexican-fusion restaurants in Chicago on S. Archer Avenue and W. 18th Street from Feb. 28, 2021, to Sept. 26, 2023, that determined the employers owed $62,500 in back wages to the affected employees. In addition to paying back wages and damages, the employers are forbidden from future FLSA violations. The third restaurant, located at 7016 Cermak Road in Berwyn, was not involved in the lawsuit.
The company will repay the back wages in four equal payments within 90 days and must also provide employees information of the FLSA, maintain accurate payroll records, and provide each employee a paystub that details their earnings and withholdings for each pay period.
Source: DOL