The federal government has fined an Oklahoma farm owner and retail employer $72k for breaching employment regulations for twenty staff.
The Sod farm operator and landscaping retailer Rob’s Sod Inc. and Cook’s Farmland Enterprises LLC were given the judgment after court proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Robert K. Cook, III, the owner of the entities, runs the company as Green Acre Sod Farm, Green Acre Sod & Landscape Center, and Enterprise Sod and Landscape Center at four locations in Grove, Lawton, Owasso, and Stillwater.
Cook was adjudged alongside the enterprises to have “misapplied the agriculture exemption to retail workers and did not pay overtime to employees who worked more than 40 hours per week regularly,” said the court findings.
Oklahoma farm operator hit with $72k fine
“Employers must be familiar with federal regulations that apply to their business and make certain that workers are paid as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Speer in Oklahoma City.
Green Acre Sod Farm reportedly operates on 10,000 acres in Bixby and Haskell, Oklahoma, 6,000 acres on the Red River in Texas, and 2,000 acres in Mount Vernon, Missouri. Green Acre Sod has 10 retail stores throughout Oklahoma and Missouri, said the Department of Labor report.
Director Speer concluded, “The Wage and Hour Division is determined to hold employers accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations to pay employees fully for the work they do.”
As Due recently reported, the US Department of Labor also recovered $877K in wages and benefits for employees of New York City federal contractors as part of court action.
Discover Electric Inc., EMG Industrial Chimney Inc., and QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp. were embroiled in an investigation into employees who were underpaid for their work on two New York construction projects.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funded these projects. The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, along with the Department of Labor and the Wage and Hour Division, achieved the result for the thirty-six employees who were left out of pocket.
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