Court orders Leo's Coney Island franchisee to pay overtime, keep accurate timecards

Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read

The operator of Leo’s Coney Island franchise locations in Clarkston, Dearborn, Livonia and Sterling Heights has agreed to maintain accurate employee timecards and stop denying employees overtime pay as part of a preliminary injunction obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The action comes after an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division determined that Kyriakos "Ken" Vlahadamis, the restaurants’ co-owner and operator, regularly shredded timecards used to track overtime hours and that employees were not paid overtime wages at time and a half their hourly rate, the department said Tuesday in a news release.

In 2018, the U.S. District Court in Detroit also entered into a consent order and judgment prohibiting Vlahadamis and Leo’s Coney Island Sterling Heights from future violations, including overtime and recordkeeping violations. The department has asked the court to hold him in civil contempt because his actions violate the 2018 consent order.

The exterior of Leo's Coney Island in Sterling Heights. The operator of Leo’s Coney Island franchise locations in Sterling Heights Clarkston, Dearborn and Livonia has agreed to maintain accurate employee timecards and stop denying employees overtime pay as part of a preliminary injunction obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The exterior of Leo's Coney Island in Sterling Heights. The operator of Leo’s Coney Island franchise locations in Sterling Heights Clarkston, Dearborn and Livonia has agreed to maintain accurate employee timecards and stop denying employees overtime pay as part of a preliminary injunction obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

"Vlahadamis was again denying his employees their full wages by refusing to pay overtime and keep required payroll records," Timolin Mitchell, district director of the Wage and Hour Division in Detroit, said in the news release. "His actions and refusal to follow the law are harmful to the hard-working employees who are being shortchanged by his illegal actions."

Attorneys for Vlahadamis did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Vlahadamis and the U.S. Department of Labor disagree over whether the willful destruction of timecards occurred, according to the order.

As part of the order, Vlahadamis also agreed not to discuss the ongoing litigation with employees or retaliate against anyone for cooperating with investigators.

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Leo’s Coney Island opened its first location in 1982 in Farmington Hills and began franchising in 2005, the news release said. There are more than 70 Leo’s Coney Island locations in Michigan.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Court orders Leo's Coney Island franchisee to pay overtime