PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island doctor violated labor laws by failing to pay overtime to more than 100 employees, including medical secretaries, X-ray technicians and medical assistants, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Dr. Anthony Farina Jr., and his sister Brenda Delsignore, who manages his four practices, violated overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy found.
McElroy did not find that the violations were willful and award damages, instead leaving those determinations to a jury, The Providence Journal reported.
Their lawyer, Michael Lepizzera Jr., said in an email that McElroy had ruled in his clients’ favor on issues of willfulness and damages, which in his opinion were the most important issues in the case.
“Although my clients’ disagree with other portions of the court’s ruling, they are less concerned with those issues since they fully understand, as an employer, that they are obligated to follow the FLSA and, more importantly, they are indeed following all applicable state and federal laws,”“he wrote. “They have instituted procedures to ensure that the proper amount is paid to each employee.”
Farina, in a separate case, had his medical license suspended by the state in January over allegations that he deliberately exposed patients and staff to COVID-19. He license was reinstated in March.
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