An investigation by the US Department of Labor recovered $221,307 in back wages and damages for 32 nursing staff employees of a Luzerne County treatment center found to be intentionally shortchanging workers of their overtime pay repeatedly. A consent judgment entered by the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Feb. 18, 2022, ordered payment of the back wages and liquidated damages by defendants Banyan Treatment Center LLC, Wilkes-Barre Treatment LLC which operates as Clearbrook Treatment Center in Laurel Run, and Banyan’s Vice President of Human Resources Joseph Bozza. The court’s action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined the employer manually deducted a 30-minute break from nurses unable to take their lunch breaks. By doing so, the employer failed to pay full wages to the affected workers. In addition to the back wages and liquidated damages, the court ordered Clearbrook to pay a $33,184 civil money penalty, assessed by the department due to the repeat and willful nature of the violations. A 2019 investigation by the division found the treatment center committed similar violations.
