Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced $476,351 in citations, in the form of restitution and civil penalties, against Peter Lucido, 51 of Duxbury, and Paul Tupa, 45 of Pembroke for child labor, sick time, wage and hour, and payroll record violations. The violations occurred at Tavern on the Wharf and Plymouth Public House, both of which are owned by Lucido and Tupa as partners.
“These restaurant owners engaged in a pattern of violating workplace protection laws that are designed to protect workers, especially our young workers,” said AG Campbell. “My office will continue to hold accountable those who violate our wage and hour laws.”
As a result of the investigation, Plymouth Public House, located in Plymouth, was cited $133,262 in restitution and penalties for failing to pay minimum wage and failure to make timely payments to employees. They were also cited for multiple violations of the state’s child labor laws, violations of the state’s tips laws and failure to keep accurate payroll records.
Tavern on the Wharf, located in Plymouth, was cited $343,089 in restitution and penalties for the same violations as Plymouth Public House. In addition, they were cited for failing to permit employees to earn and use sick time as required by law.
Paul Tupa was previously cited by the Attorney General’s Office in connection with a prior investigation into wage and hour law violations at SNP Restaurant Group d/b/a Red Hat Café of which he was president. In that matter, citations totaling nearly $80,0000 in restitution and penalties were issued.
This is the latest effort by AG Campbell to protect young people in the workplace. Last year, AG Campbell issued citations against several Dunkin’ Franchisees for child labor violations totaling more than $1,000,000. In June of 2023, AG Campbell convened a round table with representatives from the immigrant, education and business communities, to build public awareness surrounding workplace protections for migrant and other vulnerable children in Massachusetts and speak to the Office’s ongoing efforts to thwart poor working conditions and exploitation of youth and vulnerable communities
The Massachusetts child labor laws impose certain requirements related to minors in the workplace, including limiting the hours workers under 18 can work and the kinds of jobs that they can do. State law also requires employers to have Youth Employment Permits (work permits) on file for all workers under 18 and minors generally must be supervised after 8 pm.
Workers who believe that their rights have been violated in the workplace are encouraged to file a complaint online at https://www.mass.gov/how-to/file-a-workplace-complaint. For more information about the state’s wage and hour laws, workers may call the AG’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or go to https://www.mass.gov/orgs/the-attorney-generals-fair-labor-division for materials in multiple languages.
This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Amy Goyer and Supervising Investigator Jennifer Pak, both of the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division.
Original source can be found here.