Owners of a restaurant in California are paying approximately $140,000 in back wages and damages to 35 employees after trying to use a “supposed” priest to have them confess their “workplace sins.”
Che Garibaldi Inc., which operates the Taqueria Garibaldi Mexican restaurant in Sacramento, will be forking over the cash after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Under oath, an employee of Taqueria Garibaldi explained how the restaurant offered a supposed priest to hear their workplace ‘sins’ while other employees reported that a manager falsely claimed that immigration issues would be raised by the department’s investigation,” reads a press release from the DOL.
“This employer’s despicable attempts to retaliate against employees were intended to silence workers, obstruct an investigation and prevent the recovery of unpaid wages.”
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The DOL says Garibaldi, as well as owners and operators Eduardo Hernandez, Hector Manual Martinez Galindo and Alejandro Rodriguez, consented to a judgment from Judge William B. Shubb in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and would compensate its employees in the wake of a federal investigation into its workplace practices.
The DOL said the restaurant’s use of a supposed priest to confess workplace sins “may be among the most shameless” forms of retaliation, according to the release.
The establishment’s supposed priest allegedly urged employees to “get the sins out” by interrogating them about stealing from their employer, being late for work or doing anything else to harm their bosses, the DOL said.
Investigators also determined that employees at Taqueria Garibaldi were deprived of their overtime wages, which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the release.
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“They also learned the employer paid managers from the employee tip pool illegally, threatened employees with retaliation and adverse immigration consequences for cooperating with the department, and fired one worker who they believed had complained to the department,” the DOL said.
“The U.S. Department of Labor and its Solicitor’s Office will not tolerate workplace retaliation and will act swiftly to make clear that immigration status has no bearing on workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin said in the release.
Taqueria Garibaldi agreed to pay out $70,000 in back wages, $70,000 in damages and $5,000 in civil penalties “due to the willful nature of their violations.”
Taqueria Garibaldi’s owners were also ordered “not to take any action to stop employees from asserting their rights, interfere with any department investigation, or terminate, threaten or discriminate against any employee perceived to have spoken with investigators,” according to the DOL.
The restaurant will reportedly be slapped with a 10% annual interest rate if it neglects to pay out that which it has agreed.