Asmussen Sued by Department of Labor in New York

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen has been sued by the United States Department of Labor for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by underpaying over 100 grooms and hotwalkers in New York. This marks the third lawsuit from the Department of Labor against Asmussen since 2012.

According to the civil complaint filed June 7 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta is "seeking back wages, liquidated damages, and other relief for employees who care for and assist in training Thoroughbred horses at defendants' stables in Elmont, N.Y., and assist in racing the horses in Saratoga Springs and Queens, N.Y."

Belmont Park is located in Elmont, Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, and Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

Violations in the complaint allege Asmussen and his KDE Equine LLC, operated as Asmussen Racing Stables, failed to pay overtime and failed to make, keep, and preserve adequate and accurate records.

Asmussen was also sued by the Department of Labor in New York in 2012 and in Kentucky in 2015 for similar violations. The trainer settled both times.

"Since January 2013, defendants have been enjoined by this Court to comply fully with the FLSA," the complaint reads. "Despite affirmatively recognizing and agreeing to comply with the FLSA as part of their resolution of previous overtime and record-keeping violations, defendants continue to willfully withhold from employees hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages owed for long hours caring for defendants' prize-winning horses.

"Though employees' weekly work hours vary based on the race horses' schedules and training needs, defendants have wrongfully paid flat salaries that deprive employees of all required overtime pay. And although defendants sometimes pay employees extra for additional assignments, the extra pay is not based on employees' actual hours worked and does not include all overtime premiums owed under the Act.

"In furtherance of their willful scheme, defendants have directed employees to sign incomplete or false time sheets and maintained other inaccurate records of employees' hours."

The complaint states KDE failed to pay overtime premiums as required by the FLSA from at least June 3, 2016, and sometimes paid employees additional lump sums for assigned tasks, such as accompanying a horse on race day. It adds KDE often paid employees an additional $25 or so for working on a race day without calculating the actual overtime pay owed.

The FLSA requires employees receive at least one and a half times their pay for working more than 40 hours in a week for an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.