AG Jerry Brown Files $6.6M Lawsuit to Recover Unpaid Wages for Carwash Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://launionaflcio.org/fullstory/2010-10-05/AG-Jerry-Brown-Files-66M-Lawsuit-to-Recover-Unpaid-Wages-for-Carwash-Workers/



On Monday, October 4, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against one of the largest carwash owners in California. The lawsuit is seeking $6.6 million dollars in penalties and unpaid wages for the largely immigrant Latino carwash workers employed at eight carwashes throughout California. The carwashes are part of the Sikder Group of companies, which owns the popular celebrity-frequented restaurant KOI, which has locations in Hollywood, Las Vegas, New York and Bangkok.

Henry Huerta, Director of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign said, “The CLEAN Carwash Campaign brought these violations to the attention of the Attorney General. We applaud the Attorney General for taking such strong action to right these injustices and recover monies owed to carwash workers and the state of California.”

The carwashes in the lawsuit include two LA County carwashes, Marina Car Wash in Venice and Bonus Car Wash in Santa Monica. Workers from these carwashes have reported bouncing paychecks, dangerous working conditions, and management harassment of workers. In 2008, forty Marina workers walked off the job and picketed in front of the carwash to protest their bouncing checks with support from the CLEAN Carwash Campaign. Workers at Bonus and Marina carwashes continue to report having difficulty getting paid for work they’ve already performed; checks have come back with insufficient funds as recently as February of 2010.

Eduardo Tapia, a worker at Bonus Car Wash, said, “For almost a year, the checks kept bouncing. We would take the checks to check cashing places but they bounced so frequently that they stopped cashing them and told us they could call the police on us because it was illegal.”


FULL story and more photos at link.