🗞️ Queens Trucking Boss Held Personally Liable for Firing Workers Who Backed a Union
An NLRB judge ruled that Dawn Trucking's owner, Henry Burey, is personally liable for $330,000+ in backpay owed to six fired drivers, after finding he siphoned company funds for personal use once the union case was filed.
A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge has ruled that the owner of a now defunct trucking company based in Queens, New York must personally cover more than $330,000 in backpay owed to six drivers who were found to have been illegally fired for supporting a union drive nearly a decade ago. The case traces back to 2015, when drivers at Dawn Trucking, Inc. voted to bring in Local 282 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The company's owner, Henry Burey, was previously found by the Board to have threatened to shut the business down if the union won, and then, after the union prevailed, to have cut off work assignments for the six drivers who had supported it.
After the underlying unfair labor practice case was affirmed by the Board and enforced by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the matter moved into a years long compliance phase to calculate what the company owed. By the time the bill came due, Dawn Trucking had ceased operating and become insolvent, leaving the drivers with no obvious way to collect. The compliance hearing therefore turned to a separate question: whether Burey, the company's sole shareholder, should be held personally responsible.
Administrative Law Judge Lauren Esposito concluded that he should. Applying the Board's long standing standard for piercing the corporate veil, she found that Burey routinely blurred the line between his own finances and the company's, using corporate funds to cover payments on personal vehicles, a personal credit card, and even homeowner's insurance on a Florida residence he and his wife purchased after the business wound down. The judge also pointed to large, loosely documented "profit distributions," including hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Burey's wife, who held no shares in the company, as further evidence that corporate formalities had been disregarded. Burey's own testimony, which the judge described as largely not credible, did little to explain the transactions.
The judge rejected the company's argument that the claim was filed too late, noting that the statute of limitations cited does not apply to compliance proceedings, and rejected the argument that any diversion of funds after the business closed should not count, citing precedent that company officers remain responsible for managing remaining assets to satisfy outstanding legal obligations. The decision orders Dawn Trucking and Burey jointly to pay six former drivers, ranging from roughly $29,000 to nearly $95,000 apiece.
Key Points
- Dawn Trucking was found in 2017 to have illegally fired six drivers in retaliation for their support of Local 282, and to have unlawfully conditioned reinstatement on rejecting the union.
- That finding was affirmed by the NLRB and enforced by the Second Circuit in 2018; a 2025 compliance specification set the backpay total at $330,919.
- Owner Henry Burey denied personal liability, but the company became insolvent by January 2018, leaving the drivers without a clear path to recovery.
- The judge found extensive commingling of personal and corporate funds, including payments for Burey's personal vehicles, credit card, and Florida home insurance using company accounts.
- Large, undocumented "profit distributions," including over $465,000 paid to Burey's non shareholder spouse, were cited as further evidence of disregard for corporate formalities.
- The judge found Burey's testimony not credible, citing speculation, vagueness, and direct contradictions with company records.
- The ruling pierces the corporate veil, holding Burey personally liable, jointly with the company, for the full backpay award.
Primary Source Author: Lauren Esposito, Administrative Law Judge, National Labor Relations Board, Division of Judges
Primary Source: Dawn Trucking, Inc. and Henry Burey, Individually, and Mickoy Holness, an Individual, Case Nos. 29-CA-171337 and 29-CA-174915 (Supplemental Decision, JD-38-26)
Primary Source Link: https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45842cc821
