CAMP SPRINGS, Md. — The U.S. Department of Labor is once again warning employees about wage theft, spotlighting a local business as an example.
A federal judge said that from 2015 through 2021 the owner of Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards, next to Joint Base Andrews in Camp Springs, Maryland, shorted dozens of employees on their wages. The judge agreed with some employees who testified that a portion of their tips were confiscated before exiting the doors every shift for a so-called “cleaning fee.” Kitchen staff testified they worked overtime without being paid.
“The employer there was not paying people minimum wage and overtime," attorney Ryma Lewis, part of the U.S. Department of Labor team that prosecuted Fast Eddie's, said. "Documented or undocumented, it makes no difference to us with respect to the rights that everyone is entitled to."
Fast Eddie's owner Maria Aguilar did not respond to WUSA9's requests for comment. The bar’s attorney wrote in court documents, contradicting prosecutors, that employees were compensated for minimum wages and overtime.
Court documents also state that Aguilar is a “Spanish speaking immigrant with a ninth-grade education” who “relied on her accountants.”
A federal judge ordered Fast Eddie's to pay up in 2021.
"We recovered approximately $570,000," Lewis said.
The court order showed Fast Eddie's owed 47 service and kitchen staff members, including minimum wages owed and “liquidated damages."
"Using sort of a simplistic example, if you were promised to be paid $10, for the work that you did, and you didn't get that money, and you had to wait all of that time, then you're entitled to what are called double damages," Lewis explained.
When asked what trends Department of Labor is noticing in wage theft, Lewis said it was "pretty consistent."
"We haven't seen a particular trend," Lewis said. "But we do encourage all workers to exercise their rights and to contact the Department of Labor."
To file a wage theft complaint, click here, or call 1-888-4-USA-DOL.
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