The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that it has issued citations against Contrail Glory, Inc., dba A Dollar Store (Contrail), a New Jersey based retail company that formerly operated a Springfield, MA location, and the company’s owner, Shaukat Kassam (Kassam), for violating various Massachusetts state employment laws. The citations, totaling over $426,000, include restitution for impacted workers and civil penalties.
The AGO alleges that in violation of the Massachusetts’ wage and hour laws, between at least May 2021 and June 2023, the company and its owner failed to pay minimum wage and overtime, issue appropriate pay stubs, and permit employees to earn and use legally required sick time.
Additionally, the AGO alleges that the employer also failed to provide certain requested information and documentation, including payroll records, to the AGO during its investigation.
The AGO began investigating this matter upon receiving a complaint regarding nonpayment of wages from two former employees of the company’s Springfield, MA location, which abruptly closed in June 2023.
The AGO alleges that throughout their employment, despite often working 70-90 hours per week, the complainants only received a flat weekly salary that often did not meet minimum wage requirements, and they were also not given any overtime pay or sick leave.
Kassam is based in Scotch Plain, NJ and currently owns and operates retail locations in New York and New Jersey. The company does not currently operate any locations in Massachusetts.
This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Drew Cahill and Supervising Investigator Jennifer Pak, both of the AGO’s Fair Labor Division (FLD), along with Investigator Kevin Todd, formerly of the FLD, which is tasked with enforcing the state’s wage and hour and other employment laws.
This matter is part of the AGO’s ongoing efforts to champion workers’ rights and protections. In September, the AGO released its annual Labor Day Report, which highlights the Fair Labor Division's work to protect employees over the past fiscal year. These actions include a range of enforcement, outreach, and advocacy efforts that assisted over 40,000 Massachusetts workers. Notably, the AGO’s past fiscal year’s enforcement actions assessed more than $31.5 million in restitution for unpaid wages and penalties.
Workers in Massachusetts who believe their workplace rights have been violated are encouraged to file a complaint with the AGO’s Fair Labor Division at mass.gov/ago/fld. For more information about the state’s employment laws, workers may call the AGO’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or visit mass.gov/ago/fairlabor for information available in multiple languages.
Original source can be found here.