DETROIT – The operator of several Leo’s Coney Island restaurants across Metro Detroit is being accused of wage theft.
The U.S. Department of Labor said Kyriakos ‘Ken’ Vlahadamis has a history of defying overtime regulations and shortchanging employee wages at restaurants in Clarkston, Dearborn, Livonia and Sterling Heights.
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Under terms of the preliminary injunction issued Monday, July 15, Sterling Ponds Plaza LLC, the franchise locations’ operator and Vlahadamis, the restaurants’ co-owner and operator, have agreed to maintain accurate employee timecards and stop denying employees overtime pay. He also agreed not to discuss the ongoing litigation with employees or retaliate against anyone for cooperating with investigators for the department’s Wage and Hour Division.
There are more than 70 Leo’s Coney Island locations in Michigan. This case relates to the four Leo’s Coney Island franchises co-owned and operated by Vlahadamis.
According to authorities, Vlahadamis kept two sets of timecards -- one reflecting hours worked under 40 per week and another reflecting hours over 40 per week -- and regularly shredded the timecards used to track overtime hours and paid his workers normal rates for all hours worked despite being legally obligated to pay 1.5 times the regular pay rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
The Labor Department said his actions violate a 2018 court order forbidding violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and are asking the court to hold him in civil contempt.
Reporting info: Here’s more info about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.