WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $11.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages for more than 1,000 employees of an East Coast restaurant chain after a series of investigations and litigation by the department. The recovery is related to a consent judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk that resolves litigation by the department’s Office of the Solicitor related to pay practices at more than 40 Plaza Azteca Mexican restaurant locations owned by Ruben Leon in seven states. After an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, the