Bronx, Long Island gas station workers owed $1M in back wages, damages: Department of Labor

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A United States Department of Labor judgment is requiring 15 gas stations in the Bronx and on Long Island to pay over $1 million in back wages and liquid damages to more than 100 current and former employees following a federal investigation, the agency announced Wednesday.

The department filed a lawsuit in March 2022 based on an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division that found that from 2015 to 2018 businesses owned by Jagjit Singh failed to properly compensate employees.

“The U.S. Department of Labor does not hesitate to pursue all actions, including litigation, to protect workers whose employers fail to fulfill their legal obligations,” regional solicitor of labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff said. “The department has zero tolerance for employers who choose to disregard federal wage requirements.”

At his 15 gas stations, operating under brands like BP, Mobil and Sunoco, Singh was found to have withheld overtime from employees who often worked sometimes up to 85 hours per week, failed to pay some at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and did not maintain accurate or complete records.

Singh and his businesses must now pay $549,673 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, as well as $75,655 in civil money penalties to the Department of Labor, “for the willful nature of the violations.”

According to court documents, the gas stations include:

SUFFOLK COUNTY

• Sunoco, 136 North Wellwood Ave. in Lindenhurst
• Mobil, 278 West Main St. in Smithtown
• Mobil, 635 East Main St. in Kings Park
• US Petroleum, 1575 Rte. 112 in Port Jefferson

NASSAU COUNTY

• Sunoco Food Mart, 150 Fulton St. in Farmingdale
• Sunoco, 720 Hillside Ave. in New Hyde Park
• Sunoco, 85 North Main St. in Freeport
• Sunoco, 20 Sheridan Blvd. in Inwood
• BP, 771 Peninsula Blvd. in Hempstead
• Euro Gas, 848 Willis Ave. in Albertson
• 24 at Hour Minimart, 105 Sheridan Blvd. in Inwood
• JTP, 139 Jericho Tpke. in Floral Park

THE BRONX

• MBB, 1881 Tremont Ave.
• Sunoco, 3305 East Tremont Ave.
• Sunoco, 820 East 182nd St.

“Jagjit Singh deliberately and illegally denied over one hundred employees and their families of hard-earned wages,” Wage and Hour Division District Director David An said. “The back wages recovered, and damages and penalties assessed, send a clear signal to all employers that intentionally defying federal law will have costly consequences.”

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division—including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages and a confidential compliance helpline—at its website .