From charlie.burr at state.or.us Wed Apr 15 10:57:43 2015 From: charlie.burr at state.or.us (Burr, Charlie) Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2015 17:57:43 +0000 Subject: NEWS RELEASE: BOLI investigation finds minimum wage violation in Ace of Spades claim Message-ID: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E58D317@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> [cid:image001.gif at 01D0769E.71506970] For Immediate Release April 15, 2015 CONTACT: Charlie Burr, (971) 673-0788 BOLI investigation finds minimum wage violation in Ace of Spades claim Poker dealer should be paid and treated as an employee, not volunteer, investigation finds Portland, OR-The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has issued a determination against a Portland poker club, Ace of Spades, for unlawful minimum wage and record keeping violations, the agency announced today. At issue is whether workers at Portland's Ace of Spades are volunteers or in fact, employees entitled to Oregon's minimum wage. Investigators with BOLI's Wage and Hour Division determined that a claimant, Bonne Marsh, performed work, labor and services that entitled her to compensation from the Ace of Spades after Ms. Marsh filed a complaint last June. Investigators are still looking into a second Wage and Hour claim against Ace of Spades filed by another worker in December. Under Oregon law, to qualify as volunteer work, services must be performed for a religious, charitable, educational, public service, nonprofit or public employer. Private, for-profit employers must compensate employees for their labor. An Order of Determination from the agency finds that the club, Ace of Spades, must pay the claimant $30,447.33 in back wages and penalties. The club has requested an administrative hearing on the matter which will likely be held this summer. Agency prosecutors have also recommended assessing civil penalties of $2,000 for record keeping violations. The agency may request a consolidated hearing on the two matters. During the period in which Ms. Marsh claimed unpaid wages, she worked a total of 2,859 hours, 92 of which were overtime hours over 40 hours worked in a work week. The agency's monetary finding determined that the claimant is owed $26,079.33 in unpaid wages and overtime. Investigators also recommended an additional $2,184 in civil penalties and $2,184 in penalty wages. Employers seeking guidance on Oregon's minimum wage, employee status and record keeping requirements can contact the agency's Technical Assistance for Employers Program at (971) 673-0824. Copies of the wage claim and Order of Determination are available upon request. ### Charlie Burr Communications Director Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 1045 Portland, Oregon 97232 Tel: 971-673-0788 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5043 bytes Desc: image001.gif URL: From charlie.burr at state.or.us Fri Apr 24 13:16:06 2015 From: charlie.burr at state.or.us (Burr, Charlie) Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 20:16:06 +0000 Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Statement on BOLI Proposed Order on the Sweet Cakes discrimination case In-Reply-To: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E58E784@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> References: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E58E784@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> Message-ID: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E58E7DD@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> [cid:image001.gif at 01D07E7A.B8B93600] For Immediate Release April 24, 2015 CONTACT: Charlie Burr, (971) 673-0788 Statement on BOLI Proposed Order on the Sweet Cakes discrimination case Parties may now file exceptions the Final Order is issued Portland, OR-The Bureau of Labor and Industries issued the following statement today regarding the agency's Proposed Order in the Sweet Cakes case. "The facts of this case clearly demonstrate that the Kleins unlawfully discriminated against the Complainants. Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot turn customers away because of race, sex, disability, age or religion. Our agency is committed to fair and thorough enforcement of Oregon civil rights laws, including the Equality Act of 2007." In the Proposed Order, the administrative law judge awards $60,000 in damages to Laurel Bowman-Cryer and $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Cryer for emotional suffering stemming directly from unlawful discrimination. The amounts are damages related to the harm suffered by the Complainants, not fines or civil penalties which are punitive in nature. The amounts are less than what was sought by administrative prosecutors. The Proposed Order also does not recommend awarding damages resulting from alleged harm due to media coverage of the case. A Proposed Order is not the final step of BOLI's administrative process. Both the Respondents and agency administrative prosecutors will now review the Proposed Order and may file exceptions. The Labor Commissioner will then issue the agency's Final Order in the matter. Once BOLI has issued a Final Order, the Respondents may appeal the ruling with the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Oregon Equality Act of 2007 protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Oregonians in employment, housing and public places. Complaints under the Act are rare. In fact, the agency has found substantial evidence of violations in only six investigations of Equality Act accommodations complaints in the seven years since the law took effect. Copies of the Proposed Order can be found on the agency's website here. For more information about BOLI's efforts to protect workplaces and support Oregon employers, visit http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI. Any Oregon employer seeking to navigate the Oregon Equality Act or other civil rights protections can contact BOLI's Technical Assistance for Employers with questions at (971) 673-0824. ### Charlie Burr Communications Director Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 1045 Portland, Oregon 97232 Tel: 971-673-0788 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5043 bytes Desc: image001.gif URL: From charlie.burr at state.or.us Wed Apr 29 09:12:27 2015 From: charlie.burr at state.or.us (Burr, Charlie) Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2015 16:12:27 +0000 Subject: NEWS RELEASE: BOLI will seek debarment against WWJD Traffic Control, Inc. after $158,000 in wage violations Message-ID: <6376A41CAD6C3E4F8A65385BDA4072615E58F34F@D5DAG1B.D5.USA.NET> [cid:image001.png at 01D080F7.76FC0650] For Immediate Release April 29, 2015 CONTACT: Charlie Burr, BOLI, (971) 673-0788 BOLI will seek debarment against WWJD Traffic Control, Inc. after $158,000 in wage violations Contracting firm and owners face debarment after investigation finds unlawful wage practices PORTLAND, OR-The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) will seek to make a Salem traffic control firm and its owners ineligible to work on public projects after the business failed to pay prevailing wages on five public projects, the agency announced today. BOLI prevailing wage investigators determined that WWJD Traffic Control, Inc. owed employees $158,218.91 in unpaid wages and overtime for flagging and traffic control performed on several highway construction projects. All affected workers have since been paid, although the prime contractor, not WWJD Traffic Control, Inc., paid the wages on three of the five projects. Currently, 60 other firms and individuals are ineligible to work on public projects because of wage violations. The full list of debarred companies can be found here. Companies may be made ineligible for up to three years unless they agree to a longer period during settlement negotiations. In addition to debarment, the agency will seek civil penalties of $83,491.52 for wage, recordkeeping and posting violations. Public projects in which BOLI determined wage violations occurred include: * Ritter Rd. - Deer Run Road Bly Mountain Section project (OR 140): Respondent failed to pay $69,112.42 in prevailing wages, including fringe benefits, to 15 workers. Paid by contractor, not WWJD. Seeking civil penalty of $13,182.11. * Grass Butte - Rimrock Road (OR 126) project: Respondent failed to pay $44,434.49 in prevailing wages, including fringe benefits, to 11 workers. Paid by contractor, not WWJD. Seeking civil penalty of $11,000.00. * Kitson Springs Road to Eagle Creeek (OR 58) project: Respondent failed to pay $25,666.22 in prevailing wages, including fringe benefits, to eight workers. Paid by contractor, not WWJD. Seeking civil penalty of $7,389.92. * Cape Creek Bridge Rail Retrofit (US 101) project: Respondent failed to pay $15,043.38 in prevailing wages, including fringe benefits, to eight workers. Seeking civil penalty of $3,819.62. * McCullough Bridge Rehab (US 101) project: Respondent failed to timely pay $3,962.70 in prevailing wages, including fringe benefits, to seven workers. Seeking civil penalty of $3,099.87. WWJD Traffic Control, Inc. also submitted false and inaccurate certified payroll reports on several projects. In addition, WWJD failed to post the Prevailing Wage Rate on all five projects as required by law. Each year, the agency conducts more than 70 prevailing wage rate seminars for nearly 1,500 contractors and public agency personnel free of charge. ### The mission of the Bureau of Labor and Industries is to protect employment rights, advance employment opportunities, and protect access to housing and public places free from discrimination. Charlie Burr Communications Director Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries 800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 1045 Portland, Oregon 97232 Tel: 971-673-0788 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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