Matters Management

TUPELO, Miss. – First Metropolitan Financial Services, Inc. has agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve a pay discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

First Metropolitan operates a consumer loan and finance company in various towns across north Mississippi and in Bolivar and Memphis, Tenn. The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that First Metropolitan paid the female branch managers lower salaries than male branch managers, despite the male and female branch managers performing substantially similar tasks and responsibilities under similar circumstances.

In addition to the monetary relief for two former employees, the two-year consent decree settling the suit, entered by Chief Judge Sharion Aycock, requires First Metropolitan to create an equal pay policy, end its practice of inquiring about applicants’ prior earning history during the pre-employment hiring process, and conduct training on the EPA and Title VII.

TUPELO, Miss. – First Metropolitan Financial Services, Inc. has agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve a pay discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

First Metropolitan operates a consumer loan and finance company in various towns across north Mississippi and in Bolivar and Memphis, Tenn. The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that First Metropolitan paid the female branch managers lower salaries than male branch managers, despite the male and female branch managers performing substantially similar tasks and responsibilities under similar circumstances.

In addition to the monetary relief for two former employees, the two-year consent decree settling the suit, entered by Chief Judge Sharion Aycock, requires First Metropolitan to create an equal pay policy, end its practice of inquiring about applicants’ prior earning history during the pre-employment hiring process, and conduct training on the EPA and Title VII.

CONCORD, NH – A federal court has entered a consent order requiring the Concord-based owner and operator of three restaurants in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to pay $911,568 in back wages and liquidated damages to 99 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into their pay practices. The department’s Wage and Hour Division found El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant in Concord and two Casa Tequila restaurants in Seabrook, New Hampshire, and in Salem, Massachusetts; and owner Gilberto Reyes violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements.

KANSAS CITY, KS – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against the owner of two Kansas restaurants who allegedly denied minimum and overtime wages to kitchen staff, servers, hosts and food runners after some worked as many as 66 hours per week. Filed on March 15, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, the department’s complaint alleges El Toro Loco Legends LLC in Kansas City and El Toro Loco Lenexa LLC in Lenexa, and owner Alfonzo Herrera Hernandez, committed multiple violations of the federal minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements. The suit also names general manager Eugenio Yanez and location manager Yareli Perez.

Specifically, division investigators determined the employers paid servers a cash wage of $2.30 per hour and then either paid them for 80 hours a pay period regardless of the number of hours they worked or paid time and one-half their cash wage of $2.30 per hour for overtime. By law, employers must pay tipped workers time-and-one-half the minimum wage minus the tip credit.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined the two companies entered into an “employee lease agreement,” for which Jordi Construction provided leased workers to augment Stark Truss Baltimore’s workforce. Division investigators found that once “leased” employees worked 40 hours in a workweek for Jordi Construction at Stark Truss Baltimore’s worksite, they were directed to work additional hours under Stark Truss Baltimore. This arrangement led to the joint employers willfully paying affected employees straight time instead of the required overtime premium for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Title III of the CCPA(Title III) limits the amount of an individual’s earnings that may be garnished and protects an employee from being fired if pay is garnished for only one debt. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division administers Title III, which applies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories and possessions. Title III protects everyone who receives personal earnings.

The Wage and Hour Division has authority with regard to questions relating to the amount garnished or termination. Other questions relating to garnishment should be directed to the court or agency initiating the garnishment action. For example, questions regarding the priority given to certain garnishments over others are not matters covered by Title III and may be referred to the court or agency initiating the action. The CCPA contains no provisions controlling the priorities of garnishments, which are determined by state or other federal laws. However, in no event may the amount of any individual’s disposable earnings that may be garnished exceed the percentages specified in the CCPA.