New York state's attorney general has sued the U.S. Labor Department, saying a new program that lets employers who break labor laws avoid punishment is a "get-out-of-jail-free" card.
Attorney General Barbara Underwood made the claim Monday in a Manhattan federal lawsuit.
She asked a judge to force the department to respond to her request for information about the Payroll Audit Independent Determination Program.
Underwood says in a release that the program "is nothing more than a get-out-of-jail-free card for predatory employers."
She says the new program permits offending employers to dodge prosecution and penalties.
She also says the Labor Department has failed to respond to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
Government lawyers who will have to respond to the lawsuit did not immediately comment.
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