Chester County restaurant ordered to pay close to $194k in back wages and damages

A federal judge has signed off on an almost $194,000 settlement between the U.S. Department of Labor and a taqueria in Chester County for back wages and damages owed to 68 of its employees.

The judgment was granted last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for violations alleged to have occurred between February 2018 and January 2021 at Taqueria Moroleon, a casual Mexican restaurant and bar in Avondale.

A Department of Labor investigation found Taqueria Moroleon and owner Isidro Rodriguez didn’t keep complete time and payroll records and failed to pay employees overtime.

Additionally, some tipped workers weren’t given a cash wage or paid for time spent in training or meetings. Rodriguez could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, James Cain, Wage and Hour Division district director in Philadelphia, said minimum-wage and overtime violations are not unusual for the restaurant industry.

“This enforcement action will help ensure these workers — people who depend on every dollar to make ends meet — receive all of their hard-earned wages and hold their employer accountable for violating the law,” he wrote.

Separately, the restaurant will have to pay more than $47,000 in penalties for Fair Labor Standards Act violations. Overtime protections for employees covered by the FLSA say once a worker exceeds a 40-hour workweek, additional hours worked must be paid out no less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay.

The agency touted the judgment as proof that it is committed to holding employers accountable, and noted the agency recovered $35 million in service-industry back wages in fiscal year 2021. The money went to more than 29,000 industry workers.