Judge orders Papa G’s owners not to communicate with employees involved in ongoing U.S. Department of Labor investigation

HUNTLEY — U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Philip G. Reinhard, recently issued a preliminary injunction that ordered Papa G’s restaurant (10502 Route 47) and its owners, Steve and Rick Tsakalios, to not retaliate or discriminate against any current or former employee aiding in an investigation led by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Back in May, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint against the restaurant and its owners, asking the court to prevent the Tsakalios from interfering with the federal investigation into the employers’ pay practices.

Investigators alleged that Papa G’s restaurant willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime and recordkeeping provisions by producing falsified records stating that employees rarely worked more than 40 hours per week, when in fact, employees had worked for more than that.

A second set of records obtained by investigators showed that the Tsakalios paid workers in cash at a straight-time rate for their overtime hours.

At the time, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division claimed that Steve and Rick were illegally intimidating employees who talked with investigators, creating a “chilling effect on worker cooperation.”

At the court ruling, Reinhard told the defendants that they were not to withhold wages or threaten to terminate employees who are cooperating with federal investigators.

Additionally, Steve and Rick are not allowed to communicate with employees to investigate claims made by the plaintiffs, prepare a defense, gather evidence, or execute declarations without first informing employees in writing that any statements they make are voluntary.

The owners must inform employees in their preferred language and be clear to them that they cannot be “discriminated or retaliated against in any way,” according to the injunction.

Reinhard also ordered the owners to provide a seven-day notice to the labor department before terminating any employee, regardless of the reason for termination.

The injunction further states that the Tsakalios must allow the U.S. Secretary of Labor to distribute pamphlets in various languages to Papa G’s employees, informing them of their rights.

Both the defendants and plaintiffs agreed to Reinhard’s order.