Chain of RI nail salons sued for retaliating against employees, unpaid wages

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — VIP Nails and Spa, a chain of nail salons in Rhode Island, has been sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for employment violations and unpaid wages.

According to the suit filed in federal district court earlier this week by former Boston mayor and current U.S. labor secretary Martin Walsh, VIP Nails and Spa has locations in East Greenwich, Cumberland and North Providence.

The suit details the complaints of an employee claiming she was sickened by a sanitizer used by the salon in summer 2020. At the time, the employee asked then owner Steven Xingri Cao to address the issue. When Cao didn’t address the complaint, the employee filed a complaint with OSHA. The employee was then fired from the salon the next day.

An investigation was opened by the Department of Labor in August 2020 and found the salons were not complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

According to the suit, the Department of Labor also found Cao and the salons “failed to provide proper compensation for overtime hours worked to approximately 70 employees.”

Secretary Walsh is asking the court to require Cao, VIP Spa and Nails to pay back those unpaid wages, in addition to paying damages for employment violations.