Gargan ordered by Labor Dept. to pay $132k in back wages, damages

Danny Gargan, a New York-based trainer, has been ordered by a federal court to pay $132,000 in back wages and damages to 52 grooms and hotwalkers for failing to pay the workers overtime wages they earned, according to a consent order the trainer signed with the U.S. Department of Labor.

The consent order was reached after investigators for the Labor department determined that Gargan paid the employees a “per-horse” fee instead of determining pay by the number of hours worked per week for a time period running from late 2017 to early 2020. The order also states that Gargan acknowledged altering payroll records to “give the appearance that employees were paid by the hour when they were not.”

Gargan, who has averaged 50 wins per year over the past six years and has won purses totaling $15 million over the same time period, was also ordered to pay $37,368 in penalties for “willful wage theft and for falsifying records” in violation of federal statutes, according to the consent order.

Gargan, reached by phone on Monday, declined to comment on the specifics of the case but said that he would comply with the consent order.

“I’ve got no choice,” Gargan said. “What can I do about it?”

Gargan is the latest in a number of New York-based trainers to have signed consent orders to settle violations of federal or state labor law the past three years, some for far larger sums. Gargan said that the investigation of his stable began in 2018.

For decades in the racing industry, most horsemen relied on weekly payments to grooms and hotwalkers, who many times work erratic schedules. Horsemen’s officials have said that trainers who have been fined or ordered to pay back wages did not intend to short-change labor, but they have also acknowledged that many horsemen have been slow to adapt to better payroll practices.

As part of the consent order, Gargan will be required to hire a “qualified compliance monitor” to review his payroll practices. He will also be required to “implement and use an electronic timekeeping system to ensure accurate recording of employees’ work hours.”