Department of Labor sues Asmussen over labor practices

The Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, alleging that his multi-state operation shortchanged workers in New York, according to the complaint.

The suit against Asmussen appears to be part of a wide-ranging Department of Labor investigation of trainers with operations in New York, an effort that led last month to the announcement that trainer Chad Brown had reached a $1.6 million settlement with the department over his own labor practices. The investigation has centered on the pay practices in place for workers who participate in the H-2B visa program.

The suit against Asmussen, which lists just over a hundred employees as those owed additional money, claims that the trainer’s New York operation continues to pay grooms and hotwalkers a flat weekly rate “that deprive employees of all required overtime pay.” Although the suit notes that the workers are sometimes given additional pay for overtime hours, “the extra pay is not based on employees’ actual hours worked and does not include all overtime premiums owed under the [Fair Labor Standards] Act.”

The suit, which is likely a precursor to a settlement with Asmussen, is seeking “back wages, liquidated damages, and other relief” for the employees who were allegedly short-changed.

The suit notes that Asmussen has been required to comply with all aspects of the FLSA due to a 2013 settlement over labor practices. This is the third suit that has been brought against Asmussen related to his payroll practices, the suit states.

Asmussen’s attorney, Clark Brewster, had not returned a phone call by early Monday afternoon.

Multiple horsemen on New York’s backstretch have acknowledged that they are under audit by Department of Labor investigators due to payroll practices, with the majority of the probes focusing on the use of H-2B labor. The H-2B program allows U.S. businesses to hire guest workers from other countries, and many trainers rely heavily on the program for grooms and hotwalkers.

While Asmussen has year-round operations on a number of racing circuits, his year-round base of operations in New York is at Belmont Park on Long Island, which has a different minimum wage than Aqueduct in Queens. He also maintains an operation at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs while that facility is open for training and live racing.

The suit covers the period from June 3, 2016, to the “present.” It details a number of practices that are common among backstretch workers in the racing industry, including irregular hours and split shifts, and states that Asmussen and his assistants “do not properly take these fluctuating hours into account when calculating the wages owed to employees.”

Other trainers who have been audited have said that they did not deliberately mean to underpay their employees, but that the erratic schedules and the industry’s traditional reliance on weekly pay and cash bonuses led to errors in paperwork and compensation. However, labor lawyers have said that the industry needs to revamp its payroll practices in order to comply with the FLSA regulations.