West Babylon Business Under Fire After Threatening Employees: DOL

WEST BABYLON, NY — The U.S. Department of Labor issued a preliminary injunction against a West Babylon business, after it threatened employees if they did not kick back, or bribes, for overtime payments.

On Oct. 3, 2022, P & B Heating & Air Conditioning, heating, ventilation and air conditioning company located at 1004 Peconic Ave, agreed to pay its 25 workers a total of $144,350 in overtime back wages, after the department investigation found it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act in its pay practices.

Shortly afterward, the department said that P & B Heating & Air Conditioning began retaliating against employees and threatening them with termination if they did not kick back the wage payments. At least one employee did so, a release said.

“P & B Heating & Air Conditioning’s threats and actions against its workers are egregious, unconscionable, and illegal under the Fair Labor Standards Act," said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York. "The U.S. Department of Labor takes allegations of employee retaliation very seriously and is aggressively pursuing all legal avenues to halt this and future illegal intimidation and make certain the employer compensates their employees properly.”

On April 6, the department obtained a temporary restraining order to forbid P & B Heating & Air Conditioning from retaliating against employees, a release said.

It also filed a complaint related to the employers’ violations of the standards act's overtime and anti-retaliation provisions, in which the department seeks unpaid back wages as a result of the kickbacks, compensatory and punitive damages for the affected workers.

The department filed a preliminary injunction against the company on Monday, ordering the company to: not to retaliate against or threaten employees, solicit kickbacks, and interfere with the department’s distribution of the back wage payments.

The injunction also:

• Forbids them from instructing employees to provide false information or not to cooperate with the investigation
• Prohibits the employer and management from terminating any employee without providing the department with at least seven days’ notice.
• Return any illegally kicked back wages to employees

"This employer violated its earlier agreement to pay its employees their full wages, and then illegally pressured them to kick back monies that belonged to the workers in the first place and threatened them with termination," said Wage and Hour Division District Director David An in Westbury. "The Wage and Hour Division does not tolerate retaliation or intimidation of any kind against workers. Workers who believe their employers are retaliating against them because they exercise their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act should contact us.”

P & B Heating & Air Conditioning's retaliation violations remains pending in court, a release said.

To view the injunction, click here.

Patch has reached out to P & B Heating & Air Conditioning for comment.