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The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has cited three grocery stores for wage theft and other labor law violations, and the stores and their owners will have to pay nearly $1 million in restitution and penalties.
Attorney General Maura Healy’s office announced the citations, directed at two C-Mart grocery stores in Boston and one in nearby Quincy, for violations affecting more than 150 employees, in a statement May 11.
According to the statement, the stores have received 15 total citations for failure to post minimum wage notices, overtime violations, earned sick time violations, failure to pay premiums for work performed on Sundays and failure to produce records of hours worked by employees. One of the Boston C-Marts cited by the attorney general’s office closed permanently in 2020.
The attorney general’s office said the corporate presidents of each of the stores — Maio Kun Fang, Bao Song Qu and Quxiang Lin — were also cited. Fang previously settled with the attorney general in 2008 for accusations of similar violations.
“One of my office’s top priorities is enforcing our state’s strong wage and hour laws to protect workers and prevent exploitative workplace practices,” Healey said in her office’s written statement. “We are citing these grocery stores nearly $1 million for violations of these laws, and we encourage any current or former employees who believe their rights have been violated by these businesses to contact our office.”
Per the statement from Healey’s office, an investigation began into the three C-Mart locations after an employee from one of the locations made complaints about potential violations. The investigation found that in addition to denying workers pay for sick leave, overtime and more, the stores also did not display minimum wage notices in any languages other than English, though most C-Mart employees read Chinese, according to the statement.
The attorney general’s office asked any C-Mart workers who believe their rights were violated to send a text message to Investigator Lili Wu with the AG’s Fair Labor Division at 617-963-2337, or to send an email to: fldsettlement@mass.gov, with their name and contact information.
Healey’s office also encouraged any other workers who believe their rights have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/wagetheft.
The matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Kate Watkins and Investigator Lili Wu, both of the Fair Labor Division of the attorney general’s office, according to the statement.
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One thought on Massachusetts AG Fines 3 Grocery Stores for Labor Law Violations
Is this confidential? Several laws are being violated where I work, but I fear retribution, if the employer finds out that I have “blown the whistle”