News
Release No.: 2015-74 Date: August 5, 2015
California Labor Commissioner Cites
Residential Care Facility $2.2 Million for Wage Theft: Caregivers Worked
24-hour Shifts for Less Than $2 an Hour
San Diego—California Labor Commissioner Julie A.
Su issued more than $2.2 million in citations to the owners of three
residential care facilities in San Diego County for egregious wage theft
violations. The investigation revealed that nine caregivers were forced to work
24-hour shifts, six to seven days a week, for $1.25 to $1.80 per hour.
The
citations were issued to Fairhill Castle LLC and its owners, Lamberto “June”
and Jesusan Deleon of Spring Valley for minimum wage, overtime, meal period and
workers’ compensation violations from September 2013 to August 2014. They must
pay $1,332,129 for underpaid wages and premiums, $716,846 for liquidated
damages and $171,305 in civil penalties.
“These
caregivers deserve to be paid everything they are owed for their work,” said
Christine Baker, Director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).
“Employers who deny their workers the pay they are rightfully owed will be held
accountable to remedy the issue and restore wages due.” The Labor
Commissioner’s Office, officially known as the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement (DLSE), is a division in DIR.
Investigators
discovered that the Deleons employed two people, typically a husband-wife team,
at each of their facilities located on Fairhill Drive, Prather Place and San
Diego Street in Spring Valley. They were charged to provide round-the-clock
care for elderly residents who suffered from advanced stage dementia or
Alzheimer’s, many of them bedridden or receiving hospice care. The
caregivers worked 24-hour shifts, six to seven days a week, but were only paid
between $900 and $1,300 each month in cash.
The
investigation also found that the Deleons had neither reported wages to the
proper state, federal and local agencies, nor did they have a history of
workers’ compensation coverage during their eight years’ operating the
facilities. Although the business entity is typically cited for labor law
violations, in this case, Mr. Deleon, the LLC Managing Member, was also cited
as an individual because he caused the violations through his daily control of
the facilities’ operations.
Before
the conclusion of the appeals hearing in this case earlier this year, the
Deleons closed the residential care facilities under the Fairhill Castle
business name. The Fairhill Drive location was subsequently reopened under a
new name, Jade House, with their eldest daughter, Emmercelle M. DeLeon, named
as the owner and sole proprietor.
“This
is a classic example of the steps scofflaw employers will take to avoid paying
exploited workers for wages owed,” said Labor Commissioner Julie Su. “That is
why we are holding individuals who engage in wage theft responsible, so they
cannot hide behind a corporate shell and will have a difficult time avoiding
liability to workers.”
Among
its wide-ranging enforcement responsibilities, the Labor Commissioner’s Office
inspects workplaces for wage and hour violations, adjudicates wage claims,
enforces prevailing wage rates and apprenticeship standards in public works
projects, investigates retaliation complaints, issues licenses and
registrations for businesses and educates the public on labor laws.
The
Wage Theft is a Crime public
awareness campaign, launched last year by DIR and its Labor Commissioner’s
Office, has helped inform workers of their rights. The campaign includes
multilingual print and outdoor advertising as well as radio commercials on
ethnic stations in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong and Tagalog.