Oakland Co. Grocery Store Agrees To Pay $192K In Back Wages, Damages

PONTIAC, MI — An Oakland County supermarket has agreed to pay back more than $190,000 in back wages, damages and penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Carnival Market, a specialty Mexican supermarket and restaurant, agreed to the settlement after federal officials said the market illegally denied workers overtime pay and later demanded some of the workers kick back their back earnings back to them between 2021 and 2023.

Moreover, the markets operators, Jason Aviar and Chris Aviar, instructed the employees not to talk to investigators or tell them there were no labor violations, according to federal officials.

The $192,500 settlement includes paying $91,250 in back wages to 12 employees, the same amount in liquidated damages and $10,000 in other damages and penalties, according to federal officials.

The market also has to audit and verify its current compliance with federal wage regulations, provide records to the Wage and Hour Division upon request for at least two years, provide Fair Labor Standards Act training to managers and post fact sheets about employees' federal rights, according to federal officials.

"Employers who shortchange their workers also harm local economies by reducing the amounts workers can spend day-to-day," Wage and Hour Division District Director Timolin Mitchell said. "Wage theft is a common problem, especially for low-wage workers who may be afraid to question their employers’ pay practices or to share their concerns with authorities."

In 2020, the market also agreed to pay back wages to 14 employees for overtime violations that happened between October 2018 and September 2020. But after that settlement, the market's operators demanded that five employees kick back their back wages and threatened them if they refused, according to federal officials.

Between January 2021 and January 2023, the market continued to violate overtime law by failing to pay some employees overtime wages and paid non-exempt bakery employees on a salary basis with no overtime compensation, according to federal officials.