Report: Asmussen must pay $486,000 in wages case

Trainer Steve Asmussen was ordered to pay $486,000 in back wages and damages to employees at his Kentucky operations from 2012 to 2019.

Daily Racing Form reported that the order from the U.S. District Court for the western district of Kentucky requires him to pay $243,000 in back wages and an equal amount in damages.

The U.S. Labor Department claimed that Asmussen did not pay overtime properly to 163 grooms and hotwalkers in Kentucky, according to the report. Its investigation also claimed that his stable did not keep accurate pay records and knowingly modified records to make it appear that employees were paid by the hour.

The Labor Department and Asmussen have appealed findings in the case over the years, and this order follows a remand from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Clark Brewster, an attorney for Asmussen, told DRF the decision to award damages will be appealed because “no court has ever said that this was willful.”