Oklahoma Farm Fined $72K for Denying Workers Overtime Pay

December 3, 2024

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and injunction to recover $72,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 20 workers whose Oklahoma employer misapplied the agriculture exemption to retail workers and did not pay overtime to employees who worked more than 40 hours per week regularly.

Entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the Oct. 18, 2024, judgment against Robert K. Cook, III, operator of Rob’s Sod Inc., and Cook’s Farmland Enterprises LLC, operating as Green Acre Sod Farm, Green Acre Sod & Landscape Center and Enterprise Sod and Landscape Center at four locations in Grove, Lawton, Owasso and Stillwater, follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

Green Acre Sod Farm operates on 10,000 acres in Bixby and Haskell, Oklahoma, 6,000 acres on the Red River in Texas and 2,000 acres in Mount Vernon, Missouri. Green Acre Sod has 10 retail stores throughout Oklahoma and Missouri.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor