An auto repair shop in Peachtree City, Georgia, paid a worker’s final wages of $915 by delivering approximately 91,500 oil-covered pennies and a pay stub marked with expletives to the worker’s home, the US Department of Labor reported. The pennies blocked the worker’s driveway and took nearly seven hours to remove. The department said the business also published defamatory statements about the former employee on its website.
The Labor Department is suing the business, 811 Autoworks LLC (dba A OK Walker Autoworks), and its owner seeking $36,971 in back wages and liquidated damages over potential violations of the retaliation, overtime and recordkeeping prohibitions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
It announced the lawsuit earlier this month.
The department found Walker Autoworks failed to pay employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a week. It also reported the business did not keep adequate records of employees’ pay rates and hours worked.
“By law, worker engagement with the US Department of Labor is protected activity. Workers are entitled to receive information about their rights in the workplace and obtain the wages they earned without fear of harassment or intimidation,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven Salazar in Atlanta.