LOS ANGELES COUNTY – A car wash in the unincorporated Inglewood area of Lennox was fined $900,000 by the California Labor Commission for cheating its workers out of wages.
The Commission found that “over a three-year period that ended in 2021, Shine N Brite carwash paid 15 workers a daily flat rate as low as $70 for eight to 10 hours of work”.
“These workers were paid as low as $7 an hour, which is unconscionable,” said Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower. “This employer used different schemes to avoid paying legal wages, such as paying flat daily rates, and paying workers in cash. These practices are unlawful, and we will pursue all owed wages.”
During that period, the state minimum wage went from $10.50 an hour to $13 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees.
Shine N Brite is located in the 12000 block of Hawthorne Blvd. and employs workers who are immigrants from Latin America.
“The majority of carwashes are not paying workers for the full time they’re working,” said Flor Rodriguez, Clean’s executive director. “Often there’s no respect for overtime and some are forced to work for tips only.”
The state opened an investigation into the car wash in 2020 after receiving a complaint from the CLEAN Car Wash campaign. The investigation included an audit of payroll records.
The citations issued to Danmike Corp., Emunahahavah Corp. and Michael Zarabi — doing business as Shine N Brite — also include civil penalties of $90,450 for failing to pay minimum wages, overtime, and meal and rest premiums, according to the labor office.
The penalties of $908,998 would grant the workers $818,548 in back wages and damages. Individual workers are owed between $15,766 and $92,246, under the citations.
The state has also recovered car wash workers’ unpaid wages in Long Beach and Torrance.
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