Every day across the south workers are killed on the job, stolen from, discriminated against, or sexually harassed. Sometimes the employers are caught. These are last week’s stories, this is Boss Watch.
Hello sisters and brothers!
It’s been a minute since you’ve gotten one of our newsletters – sorry about that. I spent two full weeks away from home and haven’t had too much of a chance to breathe since I’ve been back! As you may know if you listen to the program, I was first at the AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis and then at the LaborNotes conference in Chicago. At both places I extended my stay to try to introduce myself and our program to local union members and leaders since we are now on the air in both cities. Both stations are excited to have us and would like to expand our program, but that is contingent on a couple of things: 1) positive listener feedback and 2) us being able to generate some revenue for the station. So if you happen to be in Minneapolis, please let AM950 KTNF know that you like our program and are glad we’re on the air there! And if your Minneapolis union doesn’t sponsor the show yet, please reach out! If you happen to be in Chicago, please do the same thing but for 820AM WCPT. And if you live in neither place, but know folks who do, share our program with them! In just the last two weeks we’ve had very relevant programming for both cities. For Chicagoans, we had picket line interviews with striking workers at St. Mary’s (who just unionized!) and with locked out BP workers. For Minneapolis residents, we just had on a Minneapolis union leader to discuss the recent indictments of anti-ICE protestors (several of whom are union members). And there will be lots more where that came from.
So anyways, sorry for the delay in your newsletters. We should be back on track this week!
Solidarity,
Jacob
Tennessee Thieves
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $1,730,598 in back wages for 1,666 workers after an investigation found that a multi-trade contractor failed to pay them their full wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division discovered that The State Group Industrial (USA) Ltd. Inc. violated the FLSA’s overtime provisions when it did not include incentive bonuses in the regular rate of pay for 1,666 hourly employees working at the Ford Motor Co.’s electric vehicle and battery manufacturing campus in Stanton, Tennessee. As a result, employees were not paid the full overtime premium required for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
“The State Group violated federal law when it excluded bonuses from its overtime calculations, averaging more than $1,000 in back wages owed to each employee,” stated Wage and Hour Division Administrator Andrew Rogers. “Our investigators remain committed to obtaining appropriate remedies for workers who are not paid as the law requires and driving long term compliance to prevent violations in the future.”
Florida Discriminators
Red Royal Electric, Inc., a provider of residential electric services to counties in western Florida, will pay $34,500 and implement significant policy and training reforms to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in January 2025, Red Royal refused to hire an applicant with a neurodevelopmental disorder and failed to accommodate his request to provide documentation of prescription medication to pass the employer’s drug screen for hiring.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requiring prospective employers to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities applying for jobs who advise that their prescribed medication may cause a positive drug test result. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida after first attempting to resolve the matter through its administrative conciliation process.
Under the three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Red Royal will pay $34,500 in back pay and compensatory damages to the job applicant. The company will also implement a comprehensive disability accommodation policy, provide regular training to managers and employees on disability discrimination and accommodation obligations, and report complaints and accommodation requests to the EEOC.
Kentucky Harassers
Fitch Irick Management, LLC, formerly known as GEM Management, LLC, will pay $90,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sexual harassment lawsuit.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the North Carolina-based property management company knew its Stanford, Kentucky site manager reported being sexually harassed by a coworker but failed to address it. After the company directed the employee to continue working with her harasser, the harasser told her he knew she reported his harassment and threatened to shoot and torture her. This conduct created a hostile work environment and caused the employee to resign.
This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination because of sex, including sexual harassment. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Lexington Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
The settlement by court-approved public consent decree provides for settlement funds of $90,000 to be paid to the employee, as well as management and employee training, policy revisions, and other targeted relief to be implemented by the defendant.
More Kentucky Harassers
JACO Enterprises, LLC, a transportation/limousine company offering services throughout Kentucky, failed to pay $95,000 to alleged victims of sexual harassment as required pursuant to a conciliation agreement the company entered into with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a female employee filed a charge of discrimination alleging she was sexually harassed by a male employee and that other employees were similarly harassed by the same person. On Oct. 6, 2025, JACO’s president signed a conciliation agreement which required the company to pay the original complainant $70,000 and $25,000 to other aggrieved women. The filing charged the company with failing to pay any of the money.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Georgia Endangerers
The U.S. Department of Labor has cited a Bowden, GA Piggly Wiggly supermarket franchisee for safety violations after a meat department worker suffered an amputation.
The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that on Jan. 29, 2026, RBG Foods Inc. – operating as Piggly Wiggly – tasked the worker with cleaning a commercial grinder. A co-worker stepped on the machine’s foot-control pedal which started the grinder, pulling in the employee’s hand and causing the amputation of four fingers.
OSHA cited the employer with a willful violation for bypassing the machine’s safety guards and exposing workers to hazards like moving parts and flying debris. The employer was also issued a serious violation for failing to establish a program for the control of hazardous energy, and an other-than-serious violation for failing to report the amputation to OSHA within 24 hours of the incident.
OSHA assessed $196,251 in proposed penalties.