Posted by CotoBlogzz 10-04-2010
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – California’s Attorney
General(AG) Edmund G. Brown Jr. today filed a $6.6 million lawsuit against
eight car washes owned by members of the Sikder family and proprietors of the
Hollywood restaurant named Koi, after an investigation revealed a widespread
pattern of engagement in informal economy resulting in worker exploitation, unpaid wages and
illegal business practices.
Informal
economies are referred to as “under the table,” “underground,”
“shadow,” and “invisible,” economies revolving around the economic
survival activities of workers who have been excluded from the formal economy
for a number of reasons and include widely divergent groups, such as
undocumented workers, professionals who do unreported jobs on the side, craft
workers who exchange work in kind, and marginalized native workers who,
because of cutbacks in welfare programs, must accept any work they can find
.
According to the AG, the Sikder family routinely denied wages, breaks and overtime pay to workers at their unlicensed car washes. . "Today's lawsuit seeks to end this widespread pattern of worker exploitation," Brown said, capping a five-month investigation of eight Sikder-owned car washes in Fair Oaks, Folsom, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Santa Monica, San Ramon and Venice.
Investigators interviewed more than 80 workers and found the car washes routinely denied workers minimum wage and overtime, failed to pay wages owed to those who quit or were terminated, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.
The car washes required employees to report to work hours early and be available, unpaid, until business picked up. When workers were paid, many received paychecks that could not be cashed because of insufficient company funds. Additionally, the car washes operated for years without licenses from the Labor Commissioner, which are required under California law.
Brown's lawsuit, which alleges that defendants violated California Business & Professions Code section 17200 and Labor Code sections 203 and 203.1, seeks $6.6 million to pay back lost wages and civil penalties, and an injunction to prevent the defendants from committing similar violations in the future.
In addition to their car wash businesses, members of the Sikder family own and operate Koi, a high-end Japanese restaurant with locations in West Hollywood, New York, Las Vegas and Bangkok. The restaurants gross millions of dollars annually and are regularly featured in gossip magazines and on television shows, including HBO's "Entourage," because of their celebrity clientele.
The eight car washes named in today's lawsuit are:
-Bonus Car Wash located at 2800 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica
According to the AG, the Sikder family routinely denied wages, breaks and overtime pay to workers at their unlicensed car washes. . "Today's lawsuit seeks to end this widespread pattern of worker exploitation," Brown said, capping a five-month investigation of eight Sikder-owned car washes in Fair Oaks, Folsom, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Santa Monica, San Ramon and Venice.
Investigators interviewed more than 80 workers and found the car washes routinely denied workers minimum wage and overtime, failed to pay wages owed to those who quit or were terminated, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.
The car washes required employees to report to work hours early and be available, unpaid, until business picked up. When workers were paid, many received paychecks that could not be cashed because of insufficient company funds. Additionally, the car washes operated for years without licenses from the Labor Commissioner, which are required under California law.
Brown's lawsuit, which alleges that defendants violated California Business & Professions Code section 17200 and Labor Code sections 203 and 203.1, seeks $6.6 million to pay back lost wages and civil penalties, and an injunction to prevent the defendants from committing similar violations in the future.
In addition to their car wash businesses, members of the Sikder family own and operate Koi, a high-end Japanese restaurant with locations in West Hollywood, New York, Las Vegas and Bangkok. The restaurants gross millions of dollars annually and are regularly featured in gossip magazines and on television shows, including HBO's "Entourage," because of their celebrity clientele.
The eight car washes named in today's lawsuit are:
-Bonus Car Wash located at 2800 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica
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Crown Valley Car Wash located at 25991 Crown Valley Parkway in
Laguna Niguel
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Gold Rush Auto Spa located at 7620 Folsom-Auburn Blvd. in Folsom
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Gold Rush Auto Spa II
located at 4350 Sunrise Blvd. in Fair Oaks
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Laguna Hills Union 76
Station [Car Wash] located at 24795 Alicia Parkway in Laguna Hills
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Marina Car Wash located at 2305 Lincoln Blvd. in Venice
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Sponges Car Wash located at 2061 Camino Ramon in San Ramon
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Wash & Go Hand Wash (also known as Wash & Go Hand Carwash
Corp and Irvine Auto Spa) located at 3080 Main St. in Irvine
California's 1,500 car washes employ a total of 28,000 workers per month, according to recent California Employment Development Department figures. One third of these car washes are unlicensed, according to a 2008 report by the state Labor Commissioner, and have not posted a bond to ensure payment of wages, as required by law.
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