MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy says he wants to keep closer tabs on employers who don’t play by the rule.
He wants to increase the effectiveness of the office’s wage theft unit, which previously had one attorney and mainly focused on bad checks.
Ivan Flores, a board member at the Workers Interfaith Network, applauded the initiative.
When Flores was in high school, he took on a job working for a Memphis landscaper. He sometimes worked 17-hour days from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Soon he realized his employer was breaking the law.
“When my check came I counted it and I was like I’m missing money. I knew I had to get overtime. I knew that much,” he said.
Flores says that experience is common but employers usually get away with it. He knows many people who’ve been underpaid or not paid at all. It’s most common in industries like construction and food service, he said.
“It’s very common. At that point we were getting a few calls a week,” he said.
The Economic Policy Institute found U.S. workers had more than $3 billion dollars in stolen wages between 2017 and 2020.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has known about the issue since he was a Shelby County Commissioner but was unable to pass meaningful change at that time. When he took office as DA in September, he knew he wanted to do something more.
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