On December 2, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a consent judgment ordering D’Nuez Corp. and its owners, Antonio and Albino Rendon, to pay $125,000 to 53 employees.
This amount represents back wages and liquidated damages owed to workers at their three restaurants located in Chicago and Berwyn.
The Complaint and Investigation
The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor on November 13, 2024.
During the investigation by the Wage and Hour Division, it was discovered that this family-owned business had breached the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in two critical areas.
First, the restaurant’s management failed to compensate their servers and kitchen staff at the required overtime rate of one and a half times their regular pay for any hours worked beyond 40 hours a week.
Instead, these employees were paid cash at their normal hourly rate for their extra hours.
Second, the businesses neglected to properly display the legally required FLSA poster.
Court Findings and Judgment
The court’s judgment followed a close scrutiny of payroll records from two of the Mexican-fusion restaurants situated on S. Archer Avenue and WsingleletterabbreviationCorp.th Street, covering records from February 28, 2021, to September 26, 2023.
The findings indicated that around $62,500 in back wages was owed to the affected employees.
The court specifically barred the owners from future violations of the FLSA.
Notably, the third restaurant at 7016 Cermak Road in Berwyn was not part of this investigation.
Terms of the Judgment
According to the terms set forth in the judgment, D’Nuez Corp. must disburse the owed back wages to the affected workers in four equal payments within a span of 90 days.
Additionally, the company is obligated to provide all employees with information about the FLSA, maintain accurate payroll records, and issue pay stubs for each pay period outlining earnings and deductions.
Source: Insurancejournal.com
