Federal government files wage lawsuit against Michigan trucking company

September 28, 2020

Tyson Fisher

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The Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Beline Transportation Services, alleging the Michigan trucking company violated federal wage laws.

On Sept. 3, the DOL filed a complaint in a Michigan federal court against Wyoming, Mich.-based Beline Transportation. Similar to wage lawsuits filed against trucking companies by individuals, the complaint accuses Beline Transportation of failing to pay one driver minimum wage and another driver overtime.

According to the complaint, Beline Transportation violated minimum wage laws with at least one driver. From May to September last year, the company allegedly withheld a paycheck from a driver. The driver had worked 36.5 hours during the pay period in question. That driver is owed $264.62 in unpaid minimum wage, according to the DOL.

The DOL also accuses Beline Transportation of repeatedly violating overtime wage laws for drivers working longer than 40 hours. In the complaint, the company allegedly failed to pay a driver the proper overtime rate from September 2017 to September 2019. Consequently, the company owes the truckers nearly $2,400 in unpaid overtime pay.

Although the federal agency identified two specific cases totaling about $2,400 in unpaid wages, the lawsuit also states that Beline Transportation has repeatedly violated federal wage laws.

Specifically, the DOL claims the company “failed to make, keep, and preserve adequate and accurate records of employees and the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment.”

Potentially, the lawsuit can include several more violations yet to be identified. The complaint states that the Fair Labor Standards Act allows the court to add to the final judgment if it finds any more violations during litigation.

It is not clear why the federal government got involved in this wage lawsuit. The DOL would not comment on the case to Land Line. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has a longstanding policy not to comment on open investigations.