GLENDALE, AZ – The U.S. Department of Labor is currently distributing more than $700,000 in back wages and damages to 470 employees, recovered from a Glendale plastering company following an investigation and lawsuit related to the employer’s pay practices.
On Jan. 19, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona entered a consent judgment that requires Palo Verde Plastering Inc. to pay overtime back wages and liquidated damages to affected employees. The employer paid workers “by the yard,” denied them overtime and repeatedly told them they were not entitled to it and falsified their books by assigning wages earned to “phantom” employees to avoid paying overtime.
The action follows a 2021 investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that began with a review of the company’s payroll records. Palo Verde Plastering Inc. violated federal law by paying employees straight time for hours over 40 in a workweek that should have been paid an overtime premium rate. Investigators also found the company did not maintain accurate pay records, as required.
After their initial findings, investigators alleged that the employer agreed to pay hourly wages and overtime in November 2021, but then continued to violate the law until at least March 2022.
The court also affirmed $23,787 in civil money penalties assessed by the department to Palo Verde Plastering for its willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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