The owners of a California restaurant are paying 35 employees nearly $140,000 in back wages and damages after they tried to use a “supposed” priest to confess to their “workplace sins.”
Che Garibaldi Inc., which operates the Taqueria Garibaldi Mexican restaurant in Sacramento, will seek the cash after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.
“Under oath, one Taqueria Garibaldi employee described how the restaurant offered a supposed priest to hear their workplace ‘sins,’ while other employees said a manager falsely claimed immigration issues would be raised by the department’s investigation.” A press release from the DOL.
“This employer’s despicable efforts to retaliate against employees were intended to silence workers, obstruct investigations and prevent recovery of unpaid wages.”
The NFL is facing an investigation into allegations of a hostile workplace.
Che Garibaldi Inc., which operates the Taqueria Garibaldi Mexican restaurant in Sacramento, will seek the cash after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. (Google Maps)
Garibaldi, as well as owners and operators Eduardo Hernandez, Hector Manual Martinez Galindo and Alejandro Rodriguez, consented, the DOL says. A decision to Judge William B. Schaub in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and will compensate its employees in the wake of a federal investigation into its workplace practices.
According to the release, the DOL said that a restaurant’s use of a supposed priest to confess workplace sins could be among the “most egregious” forms of retaliation.
The DOL said the establishment’s supposed pastor allegedly urged employees to “take away sins” from their employer by questioning them about stealing, being late for work or doing anything else to harm their bosses.
Investigators also determined that Taqueria Garibaldi employees were deprived of their overtime wages, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the release.
Burger King settles with customer who sued restaurant for refusing free meal offer
According to the release, the DOL said that a restaurant’s use of a supposed priest to confess workplace sins could be among the “most egregious” forms of retaliation. (Bank Photos via Getty Images/File)
“They also learned that the employer illegally paid managers from an employee tip pool, threatened employees with retaliation and adverse immigration consequences for cooperating with the department, and fired a worker who they believed had complained to the department,” the DOL said.
“The U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of the Solicitor will not tolerate retaliation in the workplace and will act quickly to make clear that immigration status has no bearing on workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” regional labor solicitor Mark Piloton said in the release.
Taqueria Garibaldi agreed to pay $70,000 in back wages, $70,000 in damages and $5,000 in civil penalties “due to the willful nature of its violations.”
Taqueria Garibaldi’s owners were also ordered to “not take any action to prevent employees from asserting their rights, interfere with any department investigation, or terminate, threaten or discriminate against any employee who has spoken to investigators,” according to the DOL.
“The U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of the Solicitor will not tolerate retaliation in the workplace and will act quickly to make clear that immigration status has no bearing on workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” regional labor solicitor Mark Piloton said in the release. (Getty/File)
Click here to get the Fox News app.
The restaurant will reportedly be slapped with a 10% annual interest rate if it defaults on the payments it agreed to.
Source by [Fox News]
