Workers at Kentucky store allegedly faced retaliation for reporting wage violations
The owners of an Eastern Kentucky convenience store shorted workers on overtime and retaliated against workers who talked to investigators, a federal agency has alleged.
An area manager of the store in Perry County tried to get employees to sign false statements saying they had not worked overtime, and the owner told workers he was watching them on security cameras and would discipline them if they were caught talking to investigators, the U.S. Department of Labor alleged in court documents.
In addition, two women who worked in management at the store were demoted and required to start working weekend shifts, the complaint said.
The complaint was against Z4 Fuels LLC, which operates the Chavies Food Mart, owner Parvez Khutliwala and Rahim Ali, an area manager for the company, according to court documents.
In a response, Z4 Fuels denied any allegations of retaliation, discrimination or intimidation against its employees.
An attorney for the company declined comment on the finding by the Labor Department that Z4 Fuels did not pay employees overtime as required.
The Labor Department started an investigation after an employee of the store contacted the agency’s Wage and Hour Division last October and reported not being paid overtime for working more than 40 hours a week, investigator Joshua M. Stark said in an affidavit.
After interviewing employees and going over payroll records, Stark concluded the store wasn’t paying people overtime as required.
In early March, Stark and his supervisor notified Khutliwala the agency believed the company owed 19 workers a total of $55,560 for unpaid overtime in the two years it reviewed and asked him to begin paying overtime, according to the affidavit.
Khutliwala would not commit to doing that, Stark said.
‘Very pushy’
Employees called Stark and reported that Ali, the area manager, came to the store on March 9 and 10 and asked employees to sign a statement saying they had never worked more than 40 hours a week, according to the affidavit.
Ali was “very pushy,” employees said.
Khutliwala acknowledged drafting the form, but said he was just trying to “find the truth” and that employees didn’t have to sign it, Stark said in his sworn statement.
The Department of Labor said the form was false.
Stark said he later received a call from four employees who said Khutliwala and Ali had come to the convenience store and called a meeting in which they belittled employees and accused them of stealing.
Employees said Khutliwala told them that he was watching them on the security cameras “and that if he heard or saw them talking to the Department of Labor, they would be disciplined,” Stark said in his statement.
Employees also reported that Ali had asked them to agree to take less in back wages. One woman said she felt she was being harassed because Ali had called her repeatedly about the issue, according to Stark’s statement.
The Department of Labor sought an order in federal court barring the company and Khutliwala and Ali from violating a federal law that prohibits retaliation against employees who report wage violations.
The company agreed to the entry of a permanent injunction barring retaliation or discrimination against employees over the investigation.
The order says the company and owners and managers can’t threaten, harass or discipline employees and can’t conduct surveillance to try to see if employees are participating in the investigation.
The order also requires reinstating the two women who were demoted.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier signed the order Tuesday.
