BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — Three Total Sugar stores and the candy store chain's only corporate officer will pay $37,363 in restitution and penalties after allegedly violating labor laws in the state, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has announced.
According to Healey’s office, defendants Boston Total Sugar LLC, Dedham Total Sugar LLC and Somerville Total Sugar LLC violated child labor laws, failed to pay wages in a timely manner, failed to pay proper overtime wages and failed to comply with the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law.
The local candy store chain, known as Sugar Heaven, allegedly has many employees under the age of 18. These employees purportedly worked longer hours than state laws allow and were often responsible for closing the store late at night, the attorney general said on March 3.
David Sapers, the corporate officer, allegedly violated the earned sick time law by forcing employees to find a replacement worker if they called out sick. According to Healey, no one was paid for sick days. Sapers also allegedly failed to pay employees time and a half for hours worked over the 40-hour workweek and failed to pay workers on a timely basis.
Handling the matter for Massachusetts is Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Scully, assisted by investigator Kevin Shanahan.