The US Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment to recover $152,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for nine people employed by a Bronx medical care provider that routinely failed to pay them overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek because their employer wrongly classified them as exempt from certain federal regulations. The action in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 10, 2024, requires Bronx Urgent Care PC to pay $152,000 — $76,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages — to the affected workers. The court also affirmed $8,000 in civil money penalties assessed by the department because of the violations’ willful nature. The judgment follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the employer, which operates as Bronx Urgent Care, owner Basil Bruno, and operations manager Samuel Singer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by misusing the exemption and paying the affected workers their regular hourly rates for all hours worked, including hours over 40 when the Fair Labor Standards Act requires payment of overtime wages at time and one-half rates. In addition to the wage recovery, damages, and penalties assessed, the court order also forbids Bronx Urgent Care from future violations of FLSA provisions.
