1 month ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The City of Fresno's archetypal ineligible enactment against wage theft has acceptable its sights connected implicit $58,000 successful unpaid wages. It is the archetypal lawsuit nether the recently launched Wage Protection Program.
"Wage theft tin instrumentality galore antithetic forms, ranging from nonpayment, beneath minimum wage compensation, unpaid overtime, unauthorized paycheck deductions, and amerciable piece-rate pay— each of which, arsenic you volition see, are contiguous successful the lawsuit earlier us," said Councilmember Tyler Maxwell.
On Monday, City Attorney Andrew Janz and Maxwell announced the City of Fresno is taking connected Pinnacle Hospitality and Development, their main enforcement officer, and a pseudo-contractor, Juan Moreno.
The ailment filed successful the Fresno County Superior Court contains 11 counts for violations of authorities labor, business, and professions codes. The incidents involving 9 victims occurred betwixt August 2023 and September 2024, erstwhile the workers were informally hired with currency by Moreno to behaviour operation enactment astatine the Holiday Inn located astatine 7191 W Kathryn Ave.
Janz says Pinnacle hired Moreno arsenic a contractor aft helium promised to bash the aforesaid enactment arsenic a antecedently hired contractor "at a faster and cheaper rate." The victims' enactment included installing tiles, carpets and expanse stone arsenic good arsenic painting, cleaning and wide labor.
Attorneys authorities the workers doing installations were promised a portion wage based connected the fig of rooms and floors they finished, whereas the different workers were fixed assorted rates of pay; immoderate of whom were paid arsenic debased arsenic $50 a day. The victims often took 8 to 12-hour shifts moving six days a week with nary compensation for overtime.
Across each complaints, Janz says a wide disregard for outgo was reported, with payments either becoming nonexistent, sporadic, oregon both. When asked astir payment, Moreno would defer to Pinnacle, to which Pinnacle would assertion Moreno had already been paid. In total, an estimated $58,000 was allegedly taken from workers, the metropolis alleges.
"Some of the folks that came guardant were individuals successful precise susceptible positions, and I deliberation a batch of folks deliberation that they could easy spell aft these individuals, reasoning they tin instrumentality vantage and exploit them," said Maxwell.
Janz study this is the archetypal lawsuit of galore others that are pending and volition travel to light.
"We don't privation immoderate much wage theft cases successful the metropolis of Fresno to ever get to the constituent wherever they were erstwhile we were dealing with the Bitwise downfall, right? Our extremity is to not person to spell aft cases that person already racked up hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars," said Maxwell.
Janz encourages victims of wage theft to support each documentation, oregon deficiency thereof, connected grounds and travel forward, careless of migration status.
"Any undocumented workers, wherever the transgression occurs wrong the metropolis of Fresno, whitethorn bring guardant a claim, and they person my warrant that accusation volition not beryllium utilized against them oregon turned implicit to the national government," said Janz.
Janz clarifies the lone wage theft-related cases they cannot screen successful the metropolis of Fresno are those related to farming and Ag, arsenic authorities instrumentality prevents them from doing so.
Anyone experiencing wage theft tin study it to the City of Fresno’s Wage Protection Program astatine 559-621-7599 oregon visit their website.
YourCentralValley has reached retired to Pinnacle Hospitality and Development for remark but has not received a response.
