The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement agreement with West Coast Customs of Corona, Calif., a well-known auto restyling center, and its owner Ryan Friedlinghaus, to pay $157,592 in back wages and liquidated damages to 45 employees following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.
The investigation found that the company willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions. In addition to paying back wages and damages, the settlement agreement requires the employer to pay $16,830 in civil money penalties.
“Employees often love their work but they’re still entitled to receive the minimum wage and overtime pay required by law,” said Daniel Pasquil, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s West Covina District Office. “It is an employer’s responsibility to be aware of and abide by labor laws that affect their businesses. Underpaying employees hurts not only workers and their families, but gives those who violate the law an unfair competitive advantage.”
West Coast Customs was featured on MTV’s program, “Pimp My Ride,” during the cable TV show’s first few seasons. The auto body shop specializes in performance enhancements, design and fabrication, paint and interior modification. West Coast Customs has more recently been featured in televised series produced by The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel and in the video game “L.A. Rush.”
Wage and Hour Division investigators in the agency’s West Covina district office found that the auto shop paid a weekly salary to employees regardless of the total number of hours worked. For some employees, this resulted in wages that averaged approximately $6 an hour, violating the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime provisions. The investigators also established that, until 2011, West Coast Customs had misclassified employees as independent contractors. In addition, the company failed to maintain complete payroll records of employees’ daily and weekly hours.
Source: DOL
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
