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The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court ruling requiring 15 gas stations – operating under their own corporate names and brands such as bp, Mobil and Sunoco in the Bronx, Nassau and Suffolk counties of New York – and their owners and managers to pay more than $1 million in back wages and damages to more than 100 current and former employees in response to a federal investigation.

In March 2022, the agency’s Office of the Solicitor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York based on an investigation by the agency’s Wage and Hour Division that found that between 2015 and 2018, the companies owned by Jagjit Singh failed to pay their employees overtime, paid some less than minimum wage, and failed to keep wage records as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Specifically, the department found that the employer violated federal law by failing to pay overtime to employees who often worked well over 40 hours per week, including some who worked more than 85 hours per week, and instead paying regular hourly wages even though required overtime rates were owed; failing to pay some employees at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour; and failing to keep accurate or complete records of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Some stations had no or incomplete records prior to 2017.

In addition to requiring Singh and his companies to pay $549,673 in back wages and damages, the ruling also required the employers to pay the agency a fine of $75,655 for the willful violations.

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