Federal officials say the operators of a Chicago towing company that promises customers round-the-clock service failed to pay dozens of its workers legally for the hours they worked providing emergency road service.
U.S. Department of Labor said in investigators from its Wage and Hour Division found ACD Emergency Road Services LLC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act after it misclassified hourly workers as independent contractors instead of employees, and subsequently failed to pay them minimum wage or overtime.
Minimum wage violations resulted from the employer’s practice of making illegal deductions from workers’ wages for vehicle damages, traffic tickets, uniforms and even for failing to give a “timely” resignation notice. Investigators also found that ACD paid its hourly employees “straight time” for all the hours they worked. By doing so, the employer violated overtime regulations when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.
ACD owners Camara Bowden and Dantea Grayson paid $166,030 in unpaid overtime and minimum wages and interest to 56 workers as part of a consent judgment entered in U.S. District Court in Chicago on June 21, 2021. They also agreed to comply with the FLSA in the future.
The FLSA includes an exemption from overtime that applies to tow truck drivers like those employed by this company, but not to its light truck service drivers or shop helpers.
The case is U.S. District Court for the North District of Illinois: Martin J. Walsh, Secretary of Labor v. ACD Emergency Road Services LLC, Camara Bowden, Dantea Grayson. Civil Action No.: 1:21-cv-02118
Source: U.S. DOL
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