All not well amid the glitz. Carnival company was ordered to pay $209,000 for bad record-keeping and shortchanging foreign workers. These were federal labor law violations.
Guilty: Goldstar Amusements, Lee’s Concessions
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The carnival company that traverses Minnesota for summer festivals, including Winona’s Steamboat Days, has been caught hiring foreign workers and underpaying them. Federal Administrative Law Judge Steve Bell ordered Goldstar Amusements and a related company to pay $146,000 in back wages and also $63,000 in civil penalties. The companies, based in Faribault, Minnesota, were accused of of paying neither prevailing wages nor inbound and outbound transportation costs as required by the federal H-2B visa program. The program permits employers to hire nonimmigrant workers for seasonal jobs. The violations were in 2016 and 2027. Fined were Goldstar, owned by Michael Featherston, which provides amusement rides at carnivals and fairs, and Lee’s Concessions, owned by Michael’s spouse, Connie Featherston, which provides food and games. The companies share principal offices in Faribault. The companies also were faulted for failing to keep accurate earning statements for foreign workers.
SIDEBAR
Kristin Tout, U.S. Labor Department wage and hour director in Minneapolis: “The H-2B visa program includes very specific terms regarding wages, transportation and other requirements, which are clearly defined for employers when they apply to hire foreign workers. Employers such Goldstar and Lee’s are legally responsible for knowing and complying with federal wage laws.”