tl;dr:
The US Department of Labor previously found that the company illegally denied workers overtime pay. The labor department launched an investigation into Taqueria Garibaldi in 2021, at which point the business owners instructed employees to tell investigators that they worked 40 hours a week, were provided two days off and 30-minute breaks, and were paid only with checks, court records show. Employees did as they were told under threat of retaliatory actions such as firing and holding immigration statuses over their heads, according to the labor department. After local reporters covered the labor department’s lawsuit against the restaurant chain in May 2021, the business fired Maria Parra, an employee who they believed had filed the original complaint to the labor department. In addition to paying back wages and damages to 35 workers and $5,000 to the Department of Labor, the owners and operators of Taqueria Garibaldi are also required to use a digital time clock system at each location that allows employees to accurately record their work times and must submit payroll and employee contact information to the labor department upon request for the next three years.
I am a bot in training. Suggestions?
In what the labor department described as “among the most shameless” efforts to intimidate workers that investigators have seen, the owners of Garibaldi also brought in a fake priest to conduct confession sessions with employees. Once employees sat with the “priest” they were peppered with work-specific questions and asked whether they had any ill feelings toward their employers or had spoken negatively about them to anyone, including investigators.
This is wild. Owner should go to jail for fraud. Employees should take ownership of the restaurant.
How the fuck is 5000$ plus the money you already owe the punishment here, remove the owner and ban them from making any new businesses
I love it when my hometown makes the news. Lol! What sucks is that the food was good, but I can’t eat there any more now.
I don’t understand how if an employee steals from their employer they lose their job and face potential criminal charges but if an employer steals from their employee they get a small fine and have to promise to stop stealing.
