Asmussen Agrees to Pay $350,000 in Labor Law Case

Steve Asmussen and the U. S. Department of Labor settled a court case that originated in 2015 over the Hall of Fame trainer's payroll practices in Kentucky. According to court filings, the lawsuit against Asmussen and his KDE Equine was resolved with an agreement that the trainer's operation pay $350,000 to the U.S. Secretary of Labor from funds being held by a federal court clerk. The remaining $136,520.26 of the funds, which were paid into court by Asmussen and/or KDE Equine, go back to KDE Equine. Judge Claria Horn Boom dismissed the case May 12, subject to the distributions being made. A filing recently made available on the court website disclosed the amounts going to each party. The agreed filing recites that there is no finding that Asmussen's actions were willful, noting, "This settlement fully resolves the allegations of the Complaint... and the Amended Complaint. … There has been no judicial finding that KDE Equine, LLC/Steve Asmussen engaged in willful conduct or an absence of good faith in connection with wage and hour regulations." The litigation literally had its ups and downs in the federal court system. The first round of litigation resulted in mixed outcomes. A Kentucky federal district court directed the Asmussen stable pay overtime wages of $211,541.76 for a period looking back two years, but the court ruled there was not enough evidence to conduct a trial on whether Asmussen's actions were willful. A finding of willfulness would have allowed a lookback of three years and the risk of damages being doubled. On appeal, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled there was conflicting evidence on whether Asmussen acted willfully and ordered a trial on the issue. Instead, a second district court judge again decided a trial was not needed because evidence of Asmussen's willfulness was so overwhelming that a reasonable jury could not find otherwise. Damages of $31,718.37 for a third year of shortages were added to the original award, and the total amount due was increased to $486,520.26 after doubling the baseline amounts. Another appeal followed, and the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court a second time, again holding there was conflicting evidence on the willfulness issue and directing a trial so a jury could decide which body of evidence was more believable. The recent settlement voided the need for a trial. According to previous reporting at BloodHorse, Asmussen was sued in New York by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2012. That case was settled. Another suit involving the trainer's New York operation brought in 2019 by the Department of Labor ended when Asmussen agreed in 2021 to pay $563,800 in back wages and liquidated damages to 170 affected employees. In another case, Asmussen settled with the federal Department of Labor to reimburse grooms and hotwalkers $129,776 to resolve violations of the federal H-2B worker program, which permits businesses to employ temporary visa workers, for a three-year period ending in December 2019. Asmussen, the winningest trainer in North American history, last year faced a possible revocation of his training license when The New York State Gaming Commission brought charges based on the history of labor issues. A hearing was avoided in November when Asmussen entered a monitoring agreement in which he agreed to pay for an independent monitor of NYSGC's choosing to assess his racing operations from January 2025 through December 2026. "Should there be non-compliance with labor laws, or the Commission becomes aware of further violations, said NYSGC chair Brian O'Dwyer, "we reserve the right to take further action concerning Mr. Asmussen's license." After that matter was resolved, Asmussen attorney Clark Brewster, who also owns horses trained by Asmussen, texted comments to BloodHorse, stating in part: "The matter has been resolved in favor of invited transparency. We appreciate the concerns of the NYSGC and understand that through these efforts the entire industry may benefit from decisional law and the measures taken by the Asmussen stables to reach compliance." BloodHorse reached out to all parties following this year's settlement of the Kentucky case, but none responded with comment.