California Employment Lawyers Blog

As our Riverside, California employment lawyer blog discussed in a recent post, last month, California State Labor Department investigators discovered staggering wage and hour violations at a giant warehouse that handles Wal-Mart goods. The investigators discovered that of two staffing agencies, supplying the temporary manual labor to the massive Mira Loma, California warehouse--operated by a Wal-mart-contractor, Schneider Logistics--failed to keep accurate records of how much money the low-wage workers were properly owed.

One staffing firm, Impact Logistics, Inc. was fined $499,000 for not properly providing itemized wage statements to the over 200 workers who load and unload Wal-Mart products into the warehouse facility. Impact was also issued a warning for neglecting to maintain time records.

Last week, California's Labor Commissioner, Julie A. Su, slapped the second staffing firm, Premiere Warehousing Ventures, with fines that total over $600,000--after state inspectors discovered that the staffing agency had engaged in multiple California wage and hour violations, including denying employees overtime compensation. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), the company neglected to provide employees with proper wage statements, and failed to let them see their payroll records--as required by state and federal law.

According to Julie A. Su, California State Labor Commissioner, many workers also may not have received proper payment for all hours worked. Su claimed that the ever-increasing layers of subcontracting in warehouse work can make it difficult to enforce labor laws, especially when subcontractors make a deliberate effort to avoid labor compliance.

Continue reading "CA Labor Commissioner Fines Warehouse Staffing Firms for Alleged Labor Violations" »

Last month a group of workers at a Riverside, California warehouse that handles goods headed to Wal-Mart stores across the country, filed a California class action wage and hour lawsuit, claiming that they have been working under abusive conditions, after being regularly shortchanged on their wages, and required to work in a dangerous working environment.

Everardo Carrillo, along with five other low-wage workers from the Schneider Logistics-run warehouse, filed the class action lawsuit last month, claiming that they were consistently denied proper pay, and were forced to perform strenuous unskilled labor in extremely hot conditions. The workers claim that when they would question the total hours worked, after receiving less compensation than they felt they were owed, their bosses responded with the threat of retaliation, or with actual retaliation--by sending them home without pay, or refusing to give them more work the next day.

The lawsuit named Schneider and three of its staffing contractors who supply the temporary labor to Schneider's Wal-mart distribution facility. According to the lawsuit, the majority of the low-wage workers at the warehouse are Latino immigrants, who do not speak the English language, are unaware of their California employment rights, and have an education that does not go beyond the middle school level.

According to the California class action wage and hour lawsuit, most of the workers in the warehouse used to be directly employed by Schneider, earning an hourly wage of between $12 and $17 per hour, with employment benefits. Over the past five years, the workers claim that the proportion of direct worker hires in the warehouse declined dramatically to around 25%, with the hourly wages dropping as well. The workers are accusing the companies of enacting an unlawful employment scheme to depress the workers' wages through outsourcing and subcontractor layering.

Continue reading "Riverside Warehouse Investigated by CA Labor Officials, Sued by Workers for Wage Theft, Abusive Conditions" »

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times that our Santa Ana, California labor and employment attorneys have been following, two farm labor contractor companies have been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to pay $91,300 in back pay and fines--after DOL investigations found the company responsible for engaging in unsafe employment conditions and wage violations.

The labor department reportedly began investigating the labor companies, Mid-Valley Labor Services and Ayala Corp., after two 2010 traffic incidents killed six migrant and seasonal farm workers, and seriously injured six other employees. The DOL found both companies failed to provide workplace protections to agricultural workers, violating the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

Under the federal act, is critical that farm employers and labor contractors provide a safe means of transportation for agricultural workers and use drivers that are properly licensed. The DOL investigation found that Mid-Valley Labor Services reportedly failed to check that drivers had current and valid licenses or necessary insurance coverage. Ayala Corporation also reportedly failed to provide transportation to its farm workers that was safe, and failed to provide vehicle insurance to its drivers.

The DOL also found that Mid-Valley Labor Services responsible for failing to pay 114 farm workers their wages on time, illegally charging workers for their transportation, and neglecting to compensate employees for any employment activities performed before their farm shifts began. The department recovered nearly $50,000 in back wages for the 114 Mid-Valley workers and $960 for six Ayala Corp. workers.

Continue reading "California Farm Labor Companies Fined for Wage Violations and Unsafe Conditions" »

In recent employment news that our Orange County, California labor and employment lawyers have been following, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced this week that it has filed its largest human trafficking case in the commission's agriculture history--filing discrimination lawsuits against Global Horizons, Inc., a farm labor contractor based in Los Angeles, California, along with eight farms.

The EEOC reportedly filed lawsuits alleging that the contractor engaged in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on race and national origin, by trafficking over 200 male victims from Thailand to farms in Washington and Hawaii, where they experienced severe abuse between 2003 and 2007.

According to the lawsuit, Global Horizons enticed male workers from Thailand with the promise of high-paying agriculture jobs that would allow them to work and live in the United States legally, with temporary visas. The promises were reported false, and came with high recruitment fees that trapped the workers--creating substantial debt they were unable to pay back.

After reaching Global Horizons in the U.S. locations, the workers' passports were reportedly taken, and deportation was threatened if they complained about the reported mistreatment, harassment, intimidation, physical abuse and unequal pay. The lawsuit claims that workers lived in rat and insect infested housing with overcrowded rooms and few beds, and were forced to stay on the premises with bodyguards stationed around the farms--where they endured screaming, severe threats and physical assault, and were kept separate from other farm workers who appeared to have working conditions that were tolerable.

Continue reading "California-based Global Horizons Sued for Human Trafficking and Race Discrimination" »

A recent California disability discrimination lawsuit settlement has been recently reached between John Muir Health and eight health care workers, after the California health care system agreed to pay the workers $340,000 to settle the disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Our Irvine, California employment attorneys have been following the original lawsuit, filed by the EEOC, where John Muir was accused of failing to offer jobs to one lab technician and seven nurses based on employment disability restrictions that were decided by independent doctors. The John Muir reportedly hired the doctors to perform pre-employment health screenings on the eight interviewees, and assumed that the workers had latex allergies that were life-threatening, and therefore could not safely work in hospital settings.

A few of the workers reportedly received independent evaluations by allergists, all of whom were board-certified, who found that the employees did not have allergies or sensitivities that would prevent them from working in hospital settings safely. All of the interviewees have gone on to work in the hospital and healthcare industry.

According to the EEOC, excluding job candidates from employment based on unfounded fears violates the Americans With Disabilities Act--stating that all job candidates cannot be excluded from employment based on a disability or perceived disability. Instead of withdrawing the job offers, the EEOC claimed in the lawsuit that the candidates should have been provided with latex substitutes that were readily available in gloves and hospital equipment.

Continue reading "EEOC Latex Disability Lawsuit Settled--John Muir Pays Workers $340K" »

Our Riverside labor and employment attorneys have been following the recent release of a survey by the Chinese Progressive Association entitled, Check, Please!," that reveals that workers in San Francisco's Chinatown are regularly paid less than minimum wage.

According to the report, conducted by the immigrant-rights group over a period of two years, over 400 workers in Chinatown were surveyed--over half of which claimed wage theft. The report claimed that over fifty percent of workers make less than minimum wage, currently $9.79 per hour in San Francisco. Other results found that while forty percent of workers worked overtime, nearly eighty percent of the surveyed workers were not compensated for the extra hours worked. The report found that ninety-five perfect of the workers do not receive a living wage.

This high report of minimum wage theft with workers in Chinatown restaurants surpasses the reports of wage theft from a study earlier this year, that our Orange County employment lawyers reported on in a blog, finding almost 30% of low wage workers surveyed in Los Angeles, California were paid less than minimum wage.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, George Friday, director of the Labor Department's wage and hour division in San Francisco, claimed that certain industries are more prone to wage violations, like restaurants, agriculture, and home health care, among others. Workers who are immigrants, or who have limited English language skills are especially vulnerable.

Continue reading " Survey Reveals Wage Theft in Chinatown Restaurants" »

After last week's Labor Day celebration, our Newport Beach employment attorneys have been following U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis's ongoing declarations about the importance of celebrating the male and female workers who contribute to the strength and prosperity of this country, by continuing to fight to expand federal wage and hour laws and by forming new guidelines to create better standards for safer workplaces.

Solis claimed that during her 18 months as Labor Secretary, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has fought to:

• Protect Wage and Hour Laws: As Labor Secretary, Solis has fought to make sure that American Workers are compensated fairly for their hard work. Many employers in this current economy are violating minimum wage and overtime laws, or many other employment benefits. The DOL's Wage and Hour Division has fought to secure nearly $259 million in back wages for around 318,000 employees since January of 2009. Our Carson employment attorneys discussed one of these cases in a recent blog, when Teleperformance USA, a call center based in Salt Lake City, failed to compensate 15,862 of their employees in ten different states across the country with overtime payment. The DOL made the company compensate the workers $1.97 million in back wages that they were lawfully owed.

• Promote Equal Pay for Female Employees: President Obama and his administration have ensured strategic enforcement of pay discrimination cases, by encouraging collaboration between the Labor Department, the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to reduce the constant compensation gap between male and female employees in the workplace as a result of discrimination.

• Farm Worker Wages: The DOJ has been fighting for better working conditions and better wages for farm workers by revising migrant farm worker regulations. The DOJ has ensured that nonimmigrant workers will only have access to enter the country when companies can verify that no U.S. workers have interest in the jobs. The DOJ has also fought to ensure that humane living conditions are provided for legal and domestic migrant farm workers by employers, and that farm workers receive wage compensation that is competitive and fair.

Continue reading "DOJ Celebrates Labor Day By Getting Tougher on Employment Laws" »

In recent news, that our Orange County employment attorneys have been reading about, an employee of Northwestern Mutual Mortgage Company in Orange County, California was arrested and criminally charged last month for allegedly discharging his bodily fluids into a female co-worker's water bottle at work on two separate occasions, acts that could constitute assault according to prosecutors.

According to the Orange County Register, Michael Kevin Lallana, of Fullerton, California, is a former field director for Northwestern Mutual Mortgage Company in Orange County, California. Lallana reportedly met the female co-worker, identified as Jane Doe, in 2005, when both were working for company's Newport Beach branch.

Prosecutors allege that on January 14th, Lallana entered the woman's office when she was not present and ejaculated into her water bottle. After returning to her office, the woman reportedly drank from the bottle, and later became sick. She then threw the bottle away.

Jane Doe and Lallana, along with other co-workers, were then reportedly transferred to the Orange branch of the company three months later, where the crime was committed again. On April 9th, Lallana allegedly entered Doe's office and again ejaculated into the water bottle sitting on her desk. Doe later drank from the water bottle and again felt sick. But this time, Doe reportedly sent the water bottle to a private lab for testing. The lab reported that the water contained semen.

Continue reading "Orange County Employee's Semen Found in Female Colleague's Water Bottle, According to DA" »

According to a recent Associated Press article, that our Anaheim, California employment lawyers have been following, certain reports used by companies to screen out job applicants with bad credit or criminal records could interfere with anti-discrimination laws, the government is discovering as it continues to analyze hiring policies that could discriminate against Hispanic and black workers.

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, the agency that enforces this country's laws on employee discrimination in regard to recruiting, hiring, and advancement, claims that a broad refusal to hire workers based on their credit problems or criminal records can be against the law if it has a disparate impact on racial minorities. An exception to this rule, is if the company can show the practice is job-related and "consistent with business necessity."

According to the EEOC, millions of people who have criminal records are having a difficult time finding work, possibly resulting from companies having easy access to information, because of online database growth, and a booming background check industry. More companies are reportedly trying to also screen out applicants who have bankruptcies, credit problems, or any court judgments--issues that have been rapidly increasing as a result of the recession.

Most companies reportedly see background checks as a way to sort through for ideal candidates to keep a safe work environment and to prevent the possibility for negligent hiring claims.

Continue reading "Certain Job-screening Tactics Could be Against the Law" »

In recent employment news that our Santa Ana, CA employment attorneys have been following, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), part of the U.S Department of Labor's (DOL), has fined Cooperative Plus, Inc., a cooperative owned by farmers in Wisconsin, $721,000, for failing to have proper equipment and procedures, that lead to exposing employees to the dangerous possibility of being suffocated or engulfed in storage bins of grain.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are legally responsible for providing a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. In February of this year, a worker from Cooperative Plus, Inc., became entrenched in soybeans that were frozen and came up to worker's chest-level. The worker reportedly barely escaped death, after a rescue mission that took four hours.

According to Purdue University researchers, 38 entrapments in grain were documented in 2009. OSHA claims that grain entrapments occur as a result of employer negligence, violation of OSHA standards, and a lack of proper safety and health practices.

Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis, claims that Cooperative Plus disregarded the safety standards that have long been in place to protect employees in the operations of grain handling, by knowingly exposing the worker to the possibility of suffocation and near death. Solis claimed that when employers disregard workplace standards it places American workers in grave danger, and the DOL will not tolerate such violations.

Continue reading "Cooperative Fined $721,000 by OSHA after Worker Becomes Engulfed in Frozen Soybeans" »

In a blog from last month, our California Employment Attorneys discussed a recent initiative introduced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), to enforce child labor laws by implementing stronger penalties against employers who violate child labor laws. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis stated that work involving children must not interfere with school, must be appropriate to the age of the child, and must be conducted in a healthy and safe work environment, as young workers are one of the DOL's top priorities.

In a recent lawsuit settlement announced this week, a Baltimore County McDonald's franchise owner must pay around $30,500 in child labor penalties and back wages as a result of breaking child labor laws and failing to pay young employees for overtime hours.

After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, the McDonald's franchise was found to be violating the Fair Labor Standards Act's, (FLSA) child labor laws, with 14- and 15-year-old McDonalds employees working longer than the legal limit of three hours on a school day, and also working late into evenings.

The FLSA states that individuals who are age 14- and 15-years-old may not work earlier than 7am in the morning, or later than 7pm in the evening, unless they are working in the summer, from June 1 through Labor Day, in which case they can work until 9pm. Workers who are under the age of 16 are only able to legally work limited after-school hours, and the types of jobs and hours that 14- and 15-year-olds can work are also restricted by FLSA laws.

Continue reading "DOL Fines McDonald's Franchise Owner for Overtime and Child Labor Violations" »

According to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, (D-IA) who recently discussed the issue of employee misclassification at the U.S. Senate HELP Committee hearing, over 10.3 million workers in this country are incorrectly labeled as independent contractors--which amounts to around 7.3 percent of the nation's workforce. Harkin stated that the scope of the employee misclassification problem is "staggering." The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) supported this statement, as a recent study found that as many as 30 percent of this country's businesses misclassify employees as independent contractors.

As our Southern California Employment Attorneys discussed in a recent blog, employee misclassification is a frequent and growing problem--as misclassified workers don't receive the same protections under our laws, like minimum wage and overtime payments, meal periods and rest breaks, tax responsibilities, safety and health laws, workers' compensation, antidiscrimination protections, along with other federal and state employment laws and regulations.

Harkin claimed that employee misclassification is also costing the state and federal governments billions of dollars in unpaid revenues, and hurting businesses who are trying to comply with the law. An employer that misclassifies workers could outbid honest and lawful employers by as much as 30 percent.

Harkin reported that in Iowa's first year of operating the Iowa misclassification program, the state uncovered 182 employers who had misclassified 1,565 workers--that totaled more than $27 million in total unreported wages, $1 million in unemployment taxes due, and unemployment penalties and interest amounting to $340,000. He claims that if state and federal agencies help to solve the problem, they can recover millions of dollars from employers who aren't paying their fair share to workers and to the individual states.

Continue reading "Senator Harkin Aims to "Level the Playing Field" to Protect Workers And Businesses from Employee Misclassification" »

In a blog from earlier this week, our attorneys at Howard Law, PC discussed the Department of Labor's (DOL) announcement of a grant, supporting and training women in non-traditional occupations.

The DOL made headline news again this week, announcing that employers who illegally employ children as workers will now face stronger penalties--as the department is cracking down on employers who violate child labor rules and regulations.

In a statement by Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor, young workers are a priority of the state department. Solis claims that work involving children must be age appropriate, must not interfere with school, and must be conducted in a healthy and safe work environment.

According to current child labor provisions under federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA):

• Workers under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in hazardous, nonagricultural occupations.

• Individuals who are under the age of 16 are legally able to work only limited after school hours.

• Individuals who are age 14 and 15 may also not work before 7am in the morning, or after 7pm in the evening, unless it's from June 1 through Labor Day, in which they can work until 9pm.

• The types of jobs and hours that 14- and 15-year-olds can work are also restricted by FLSA laws.

• With agricultural work, children under the age of 12 may be employed with consent from their parents, but only on small farms that are not subject to federal minimum wage requirements.

• Individual workers who are 12- or 13-years-old may also be employed on a farm with parental permission, or can also be hired to work on the same farm as a parent.

• On a general rule, no farm worker under the age of 16 can perform hazardous work, or engage in employment during school hours.

Under the new, tougher penalty structure of the DOL, employers who employ 12 and 13-year-olds illegally will face a $6,000 penalty per violation. The penalty will be at least $8,000 per violation if the child is under the age of 12. Under certain conditions, illegally employing child laborers under the age of 14 could be raised to $11,000 per violation.

Continue reading "Department of Labor Cracks Down on Illegal Employment of Children" »

Our California Employment Attorneys reported in a blog earlier this month about the devastating tragedy in West Virginia, where 29 miners died after a massive mine explosion. In the shadow of these deaths and the many other preventable deaths, injuries and illnesses in the workplace that happened across the country over this past year--yesterday was proclaimed by President Obama to be Workers' Memorial Day, 2010.

Workers Memorial Day 2010, marks the 40th anniversary of Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, and the 39th anniversary of the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This day of observance, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is important to encourage employers, lawmakers, and the public to continually achieve better health and safety in the workplace, to prevent unnecessary disasters, and to save the valuable lives of workers around the country. The theme for this year is: "Good Jobs. Safe Jobs NOW."

According to U.S. Department of Labor, 5214 workers in this country died from occupational injuries in 2008, and every year around 49,000 deaths are attributed to work-related illnesses.

Continue reading "Safety and Health in the Workplace--Workers Memorial Day 2010" »

In a blog from earlier this week, our Southern California Labor and Employment Lawyers discussed Monday's mine explosion in West Virginia that killed at least twenty-five employees, and whether looking into last month's federal safety violations could have prevented the workers' deaths in the explosion.

According to safety inspectors, the conditions at Massey Energy Company were concluded last month to contain substantial and significant risks to the health and safety of miners before the explosion on Monday happened.

In the month of March, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration reportedly cited the mine for over 50 safety violations, 37 of which Massey appealed. Administration officials reportedly cited the Upper Big Branch South Mine, operated by Massey Energy Subsidiary, Performance Coal Co., for improper ventilation of the mine dust, failing to control coal dust accumulation, improper ventilation of the highly combustible methane gas, failing to maintain proper escape ways, neglecting to protect workers from roof falls, and allowing combustible materials to build up.

Scott Simonton, Marshall University's Professor of Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering stated that these violations have the potential of being very "relevant" to the explosion on Monday.

Continue reading "Could Looking at Safety Violations Have Prevented the Massey Mine Explosion?" »