El Mariachi in Hebron to pay $90,000 in back wages

COVINGTON – Owners of a Mexican restaurant in Hebron will have to pay $90,000 in back pay to employees who didn't get overtime or, in some cases, minimum wage for three years, a judge decided this week.

Cooks, dishwashers and bus boys were not paid properly at El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant at 2091 North Bend Road, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division's Louisville District Office.

The employees were paid for hours worked, according to a Labor Department investigation, but they were not paid overtime they'd worked – and, for some pay periods, they weren't paid minimum wage, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Covington. The violations have been happening since at least August of 2011, the complaint says.

The department filed its complaint in January against JAO Enterprises LLC, doing business as El Mariachi, and its owners. On Tuesday, a judge signed an order and permanent injunction.

The owners – Jaime Magana, Abel Leon, and Damian Rodriguez – have agreed to pay $90,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 17 employees.

The employer has paid $18,700 in civil penalties for repeat and willful violations, and has agreed to hire a consultant to audit several other restaurants it owns in Hamilton, Statesboro, Georgia; Lexington, Harrison and Lawrenceburg, the Labor Department stated in a news release.

According to the agreement, if the consultant finds more Fair Labor Standards Act violations, the defendants will have to pay those back wages as well.