FORT SMITH, Ark. — A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the owner of El Lorito Mexican Restaurant in Fort Smith had illegally fired a worker who used medical leave, the department announced on May 7.
The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the owner, who operates nine restaurants in Arkansas, failed to reinstate an employee after they had returned from family and medical leave— a federally protected policy.
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"The division determined the employer owed the former employee lost hourly wages and wages from tips for the more than five months they spent obtaining another job," the investigation findings from the Department of Labor said.
Those five months of back wages equated to $11,706 that were given to the former employee.
Civil money penalties for the owner was $204 for the violations, the Dept. of Labor said.
The investigation said that when the employee "refused to report to another restaurant location in another town miles away" allegedly after returning from medical leave, the employee was illegally fired.
“An employer’s compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act is never optional. An employee eligible for this protected leave must be allowed to exercise their right to use it without fear of losing their job,” said Wage and Hour District Director Hanz Grünauer in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employees’ rights are protected and will use all available remedies when violations are found.”
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