A Gloucester seafood processor will pay $90,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 60 employees to rectify violations identified during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a consent judgment ordering Intershell International Corp., and its owners Yibing Gao-Rome and Monte Rome, to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and to refrain from discharging or discriminating against employees who initiate or cooperate with an FLSA investigation. They will also pay $28,050 in civil money penalties to the Department.

In 2016, the Department’s Office of the Solicitor filed suit against the defendants alleging that they did not pay overtime to employees – as most were paid through a series of temporary staffing agencies – who cut, cleaned, and packed seafood when they worked more than 40 hours during a work week. The defendants also failed to maintain and provide adequate and accurate payroll and hours records, provided inaccurate records to investigators, and improperly deducted from certain employees’ pay for the cost of cleaning their uniforms.

“Employers may not avoid the obligations they owe their employees – gaining an unfair advantage over employers who honor those obligations – by attempting to shift their legal responsibilities to temporary agencies. It’s critical that host companies acknowledge and comply with their responsibilities to these workers,” said regional Solicitor of Labor Michael Felsen.