US Dept. of Labor Files Restraining Order Against Liquor Store Owner Accused of Threatening Employees, Refusing to Pay $355K in Wages

A liquor store owner who owned and ran 61 stores in Indiana and Michigan faces a federal injunction and restraining order over accusations of threatening employees over back wages. (Photo: Sipa via AP Images)

The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday in a news release that it had issued a temporary restraining order against the parent company behind the liquor store chain Mega Liquor & Smoke after its owner, Bhola Singh, was accused of intimidating and retaliating against employees.

Singh and Mega Liquor & Smoke signed a settlement in September claiming it would pay $354,633 in back wages to nearly 160 employees for minimum wage and overtime violations that occurred during a timeframe spanning the COVID-19 pandemic.

The injunction was filed by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of the Solicitor through the Indiana court system. Part of the filing accuses Singh of operating a “kickback scheme” withholding ex-employees of wages they earned through “threats, intimidation and coercion.”

“The Department of Labor is asking the court to hold Bhola Singh accountable for his illegal tactics to prevent employees from receiving the back wages and damages they are owed that he agreed to pay,” Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri said in a statement. “We will use every available legal resource to protect workers and end retaliatory practices by employers, including seeking punitive damages from those harassed.”

According to the news release issued by the Department of Labor, Singh allegedly ordered employees to sign receipts claiming they were paid the back wages he owed them, despite the fact the payments had not been made by Singh or his parent company, Vishav Inc.

The two attorneys presiding over the case are Travis Gosselin and Haley Jenkins from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Chicago.

“These federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from intimidating workers and exploiting them for financial gain,” U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri said. “Our actions to stop this harassment will ensure that these workers receive the wages they have rightfully earned and serve notice to other employers that retaliation will not be tolerated.”

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