Press Release  AG Campbell Announces More Than $500,000 In Citations Against Medfield Contractor For Failure To Pay Sick And Overtime Wages

BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced a series of citations against Idea Painting Company and its owner, Elias Delana Junior, totaling $511,045.50 in restitution and civil penalties for failure to keep or furnish accurate records and pay employees sick time and overtime wages.  

“I am grateful to IUPAT DC35 for their case referral and partnership in working to hold Idea Painting accountable for significant wage and benefit violations," said AG Campbell. “The office will continue to protect workers and ensure they receive the monies and benefits they are entitled to.” 

“We are often on the frontlines of fighting against worker exploitation, so having an ally in the Attorney General who will partner with us and take action when contractors take advantage of hard-working people is crucial,” said Rodrigo Badaro, Business Rep/Organizer for International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35. “I want to thank the Attorney General’s Office for helping to bring justice back to these workers.”  

A Medfield-based employer, Idea Painting works on both residential and commercial projects in Norfolk County and the Greater Boston area. 

Former employees made complaints with the AG’s Office that alleged Idea Painting had denied the employees proper overtime wages—of one and one-half times the regular hourly rate—and paid their straight hourly rate instead. The employees worked 6 days a week and regularly worked between 55 and 65 hours in a week. In addition, the employer did not pay earned sick time to workers or adequately track their sick time as required by law. The citations against Idea Painting Company were issued citations for violations pertaining to failure to pay overtime wages, failure to furnish records to the Attorney General, failure to keep accurate records of hours and wages, failure to keep accurate sick time records, and the nonpayment of earned sick time.  

Workers who believe that their rights have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/fairlabor. For information about the state’s wage and hour laws, workers may call the AG’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or go to www.mass.gov/ago/fairlabor for materials in multiple languages including Spanish and Portuguese. The AG’s Office reminds employers that it advocates on behalf of all workers in Massachusetts, regardless of immigration status. The AG’s Office offers an Advisory on the Rights of Immigrant Workers, which has been translated into multiple languages.   

To read this press release in Spanish, please click here.  

To read this press release in Portuguese, please click here. 

This matter was handled by Investigator Patrick Fitzgerald and Assistant Attorney General Kate Watkins, both of AG Campbell’s Fair Labor Division.

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