Chris Lisinski
State House News Service
A car dealership company will pay $1 million to the state as part of a settlement over allegations that it improperly asked its furloughed employees to work without pay while receiving unemployment benefits.
Colonial Automotive Group, which operates 16 dealerships in Massachusetts, including one in Woburn, allegedly violated the state s False Claims Act by furloughing most sales employees, encouraging them to seek jobless benefits, then asking them to continue to perform some job functions, Attorney General Maura Healey s office announced Friday.
Healey s office alleged that the company sold 366 cars in April and 455 cars in May that were attributed to furloughed employees who were collecting unemployment benefits.