Millie’s Café in Los Angeles, Pasadena assessed $40K in penalties for deliberate actions
LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $370,194 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owners of two restaurants in Los Angeles and Pasadena who illegally denied overtime wages to 54 workers, and attempted to hide their misdeeds.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Rober Yousef Babish, wife Ivette, and sons Julian and Joseph – owners of the two Millie’s Cafe locations – failed to pay overtime pay to employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators found that, in some cases, employees worked as many as 37 hours of overtime per week.
In an effort to mask their violations, the owners issued company checks and made cash payments. They also failed to keep records of all hours worked, including overtime hours, which led to recordkeeping violations.
“Wage theft is a serious violation, and restaurant industry workers are too often its victims,” explained Wage and Hour Assistant District Director Susan Bacon in Los Angeles. “These low-wage workers can least afford to have their pay shortchanged, especially by unscrupulous employers like the owners of these Millie’s Café restaurants. We are determined to recover all workers’ hard-earned wages and hold to account those who deny them their due.”
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