Employers: Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC
Carla Bland, human resources director
Actions: Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing
Courts: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Investigation findings: On Dec. 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court seeking a total of $47,439 in back wages and liquidated damages for 42 people employed by Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC to provide armed guard services to marijuana dispensaries in metropolitan Detroit area.
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division alleged the company paid “straight time” for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek when time and one-half their regular hourly rate-of-pay was required from at least October 2021 through April 2022. The company also treated some guards as exempt from overtime, all of which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In its complaint, the department named the company and its human resources director Carla Bland, who is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations.
Detroit Body Guards currently owes $25,587 in back wages to employees after the division found the employer shortchanged them from Aug. 11, 2019, through Oct. 10, 2021. In that case, Bland signed an agreement with the department to pay the back wages due and to future FLSA compliance.
Quote: “Complying with federal wage laws in not an option,” said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Federal regulations protect every worker’s right to be paid for hours they work and the overtime earned. The Department of Labor is committed to showing Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC and other employers who violate the federal wage laws that they will be held accountable.”