Airline service company Eulen has agreed to provide $590,000 in reimbursement to employees who were forced to pay for the cost of laundering uniforms they were required to wear, New York's attorney general said Friday.
Attorney General Letitia James said Eulen America unlawfully deducted money from about 1,500 workers out of their paychecks. New York state law requires employers to reimburse workers earning minimum wage for the laundering costs of required uniforms at a fixed weekly rate.
“The dedicated and hardworking workers at airports across the tri-state area deserve to be compensated fairly for their labor and reimbursed for what the law clearly lays out,” James said.
Eulen is a subcontractor to American Airlines and provides passenger services at JFK Airport. The company didn’t immediately respond to request for comment Friday.
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James said her office's investigation began in November 2019, and found that the company failed to reimburse workers from February 2014 through May 2020. She said that Eulen faces legal action if it doesn't comply, and has agreed to provide the attorney general with a written plan for disbursing the funds.
