Court Orders Milford Sports Bar To Pay $359K For Labor Violations

MILFORD, CT ? A Milford sports bar and its owner must pay employees a total of $359,485 in back pay and damages for making unlawful threats and terminating workers in violation of anti-retaliation laws, according to a U.S. Department of Labor statement.

The labor department filed suit in February 2022 against Milford Sports Bars LLC, doing business as Champions Grill and Bar. The suit was also against Loren Drotos, who is also known as Mark Roberts, Mark Drotos, and Mark Lawrence.

The suit alleged that the employers threatened an employee who asked to be paid the compensation they'd earned, according to the statement.

It was also alleged that the employers unlawfully terminated workers who had participated in an inspection by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The department found that days after workers were fired, employers sought to "further chill employees" from cooperating with the investigation by sending a message to workers that they should not talk to the department.

The U.S. District Court of Connecticut accepted the allegations as true and granted $6,770 in back pay, $2,715 in withheld wages, $125,000 in emotional distress damages, and $225,000 in punitive damages to the affected employees, according to the statement.

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?Employers who subject their workers to unlawful conduct on multiple fronts, such as unsafe working conditions, unpaid wages and threats of retaliation, are violating multiple federal employment laws,? Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston said in a statement. ?The court?s award of $225,000 in punitive damages and over $359,000 in damages overall sends a clear message that the U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate such behavior."