Tangredi sued, round two

Spurned DOL investigators want restaurateur's employee records

Email | Print By Kyle Swenson

For a second time in two weeks, Michael Tangredi is the target of legal action. The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday filed suit against Tangredi, petitioning the court to force the under-siege restaurateur to comply with a subpoena.

The restaurateur's employees are central to his growing legal troubles. In the suit filed last week by a unit of American Express, the company alleged Tangredi opened credit cards with the personal information of employee Laura Lightfoot, eventually racking up $1.4 million in false charges.

The DOL suit, filed in the name of Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, stems from a Wages and Hours Division investigation into the Tangredi family's practices at their three area restaurants.

The suit alleges that Tangredi failed to comply with a request from a DOL investigator for “records concerning wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.” Investigator Tom Grey initially asked for payroll records in July, which Tangredi said would have to be obtained from payroll agencies. After failing to do so, the suit says the restaurateur was served with a subpoena for the records, with which he failed to comply.

The suit asks the court to fix a time and place when Tangredi would appear before Department of Labor officials to produce the documents.