Group Sues for Names of Those Owed Back Pay
A workers’ rights group sued the Labor Department for the release of 95,000 names of private-sector employees it says are entitled to $32 million in wages.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges violations of the Freedom of Information Act and seeks the names of workers -- many of whom are low-wage earners -- whom the Labor Department has been unable to locate after they won government settlements for back pay.
Obtaining the information would alert workers who were owed money and “could encourage more workers to report wage theft and other wage violations,” said Kim Bobo, executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Worker Justice, which filed the lawsuit.
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