Pittsburgh food vendor settles with Labor Department over overtime abuse, worker threats

A Pittsburgh food vendor has paid workers $15,000 in back wages and damages for refusing to pay workers the mandated overtime rate and threatening employees, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday.

Simon’s Food Concessions, located in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood, denied time-and-a-half wages to six employees for work beyond the standard 40-hour workweek, according to the department.

Investigators also accused the employer of threatening workers for cooperating with the department probe.

The department said Simon’s tried to send home a worker with a temporary work visa before his contract ended, according to the department.

Simon’s Food Concessions also failed to keep accurate records of how many hours its employees worked, the federal agency said Monday in a news release.

Simon’s Food Concessions did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Labor Department issued a press release after confirming that Simon’s paid the back wages and damages.

In September, the department’s Office of the Solicitor sued Ikaros Gourmet Co., a food stand operating as Simon’s Food Concessions, based on several Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

Its complaint accused Simeon Koutoufaris of meeting with El Salvadoran employees in the U.S. on a work visa and angrily demanding to know who contacted the Labor Department.

The complaint said Koutoufaris threatened to fire anyone who did and told workers that he would give them a bad letter of reference for complaining to the government. It also accused him of targeting one worker in particular, firing him and trying to send him back to El Salvador.

Lawyers for the defendants claimed that Koutoufaris was frustrated by the targeted worker’s effort and denied that he indicated the worker would not receive a reference letter.

Employees became afraid to tell the truth or participate with investigators because of repeated threats, the department claimed. The defendants also denied that allegation.

The department obtained a temporary restraining order to stop the employer from retaliating and interfering with its investigation.

In June, a consent judgment ordered the company pay about $15,000 to workers in back wages and damages.

“Federal law protects workers’ rights to participate in investigations into a company’s pay practices and prevents employers from retaliating or intimidating those who do,” John DuMont, the labor department’s wage and hour division district director in Pittsburgh, said in a statement.

Founded in 1976, Simon’s Food Concessions specializes in catering and food concessions in and around Pennsylvania.

It is headed by Simeon and Tina Koutoufaris, according to the company’s website. The Labor Department’s complaint lists Ikaros, Simon’s and Simeon Koutoufaris as defendants.