MassInsider

Press Release: 2021-05-12

Three Grocery Stores Cited Nearly $1 Million for Wage Theft, Other Wage and Hour Violations Affecting Over 150 Employees:

AG’s Office Cites C-Mart Grocery Stores in Downtown Boston and Quincy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

5/11/2021

BOSTON — Three C-Mart grocery stores in Downtown Boston and Quincy and their owners have been cited nearly $1 million in restitution and penalties for wage theft and other violations affecting over 150 employees, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

“One of my office’s top priorities is enforcing our state’s strong wage and hour laws to protect workers and prevent exploitative workplace practices,” said AG Healey. “We are citing these grocery stores nearly $1 million for violations of these laws, and we encourage any current or former employees who believe their rights have been violated by these businesses to contact our office.”

The three C-Mart stores, located on Herald Street and Lincoln Street in Boston, and on Hayward Street in Quincy, have received 15 total citations for failure to pay premiums for work performed on Sundays, failure to post minimum wage notices, overtime violations, earned sick time violations, and failing to produce records of daily and weekly hours worked by employees. Their respective corporate presidents, Maio Kun Fang, Bao Song Qu, and Quxiang Lin, were also cited. The C-Mart on Lincoln Street closed permanently in 2020. Fang previously settled with AG’s Office in 2008 after it found Sunday premium pay, overtime, and minimum wage violations at his stores.

The AG’s Office began an investigation into the recent matter after receiving complaints from an employee at the Hayward Street location. The AG’s investigation revealed that C-Mart workers were denied paid sick leave, overtime, and premium pay for work on Sundays. The AG’s Office also determined that none of the stores had minimum wage notices posted in languages other than English, though most C-Mart employees read Chinese.

C-Mart and its owners also failed to produce timekeeping records to the AG’s Office as required by law.

Any workers who believe their workplace rights were violated while working at C-Mart are encouraged to send a text message to Investigator Lili Wu with the AG’s Fair Labor Division at 617-963-2337, or to send an email to: fldsettlement@mass.gov, with their name and contact information.

Any other workers who believe their rights have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/wagetheft. For information about the state’s wage and hour laws, workers may call the Office’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or go to the Attorney General’s Workplace Rights website www.mass.gov/fairlabor for materials in multiple languages.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Kate Watkins and Investigator Lili Wu, both of the AG’s Fair Labor Division.