California s 1,500 car washes employ a total of 28,000 workers per month, according to recent Califo

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has filed a $6.6 million lawsuit against eight car washes after an investigation revealed rent a car in lax a widespread pattern of worker exploitation, unpaid rent a car in lax wages and illegal business practices.
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 rent a car in lax from the Labor Commissioner, which are required under California law.
Brown s lawsuit was filed against eight car washes and Dipu Haque, aka Dipu Haque Sikder, who spearheaded the operation. The suit alleges that the car washes 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.
Sergio Diaz-Esquivel and Juvenal Diaz-Esquivel worked for the Wash Go Hand Wash in Irvine during 2005 and 2006. They quit because of the poor working rent a car in lax conditions. They worked seven days per week and were not paid for all the hours they worked, nor paid the overtime wages due to them. After they quit, Wash Go Hand Wash continued to refuse to pay them, which forced the workers to go to the Labor Commissioner. In August, 2007, they obtained judgments totaling $14,708.24, including penalties for the car wash s willful failure to pay them their wages. The car wash still has not paid them.
This lawsuit follows rent a car in lax another suit filed late last year by the Attorney General against Los Angeles-based Auto Spa Express Car Wash, which forced employees to work nearly 60-hour weeks without overtime, ignored minimum wage laws, and denied injured employees their workers compensation rent a car in lax benefits.
- Won a $3.9 million settlement from a Livermore-based construction company that falsified payroll records, misclassified workers to reduce workers compensation premiums and violated the state s prevailing wage laws, including an award of $2.2 million for unpaid wages.
- Won a lawsuit against rent a car in lax a Southern California trucking company that misclassified port-based truck drivers and failed rent a car in lax to pay state taxes, rent a car in lax contribute to Social Security and Medicare, or provide rent a car in lax W-2 forms to its employees.
California s 1,500 car washes employ a total of 28,000 workers per month, according to recent California Employment rent a car in lax 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.