By Ted Asregadoo, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office
On June 17th, 2022, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton and U.S. Department of Labor Assistant District Director for San Jose Alberto Raymond formalize a partnership to combat wage theft and protect workers’ rights.
Both agencies commemorate the agreement by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the District Attorney’s Office in Martinez. The MOU means the DA’s Office will be devoting resources to prosecute criminal wage theft cases to curtail labor trafficking, unfair business practices, payroll tax evasion, and wage and hour violations. To do this, District Attorney Becton will create a Workplace Justice Unit that’s committed to a fair and equitable workplace.
Becton noted, “While the DA’s Office and the Department of Labor have had an informal relationship on human labor trafficking and wage theft cases since 2014, this Memorandum of Understanding marks the start of a formal five-year partnership to continue our efforts to seek justice for victims of crime.”
Wage theft affects victims in various ways – and at all income levels. Some workers are denied overtime or are paid less than the minimum wage per hour. Some employers also refuse to pay bonuses, vacation pay, or reimbursement of business expenses. According to investigations by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division in 2021, U.S. workers were denied over 230-million dollars in back pay.1
“Cooperation between federal and local agencies is critical in the fight against all forms of wage theft here in Contra Costa County and elsewhere in the country,” Assistant District Director Raymond said. “The formal renewal of this longstanding partnership highlights our determination and commitment to combat wage theft and to hold their perpetrators accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Wage theft is a felony punishable by up to three years in jail. Employers caught stealing from their employees may be personally liable for unpaid wages and face criminal asset forfeiture actions.2
In addition to investigating and prosecuting cases, both agencies will conduct community outreach programs to inform the public about reporting wage theft — as well as provide resources for employers to help them follow labor and payroll tax laws.
If you are a victim of wage theft, call 1-866-4-USWAGE or contact the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office at: DA-ReportFraud@contracostada.org.
1 U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Labor Division (FY 2021) data found a total of $234,280,603.96 in back pay was owed to workers.
2 Pursuant to PC section 186.11
I am pleased to see the DA taking extra effort toward wage theft. I am not optimistic they will help me – if I am not part of a class action suit. I will try anyway.
I am a female executive in the electric vehicle industry that typically earns a six-figure income. I’ve been taken from a middle-class Bay Area homeowner to foreclosure over wage theft. My claim is over $75K, including almost $10K in unreimbursed business expenses for required business travel.
I’ve already filed a police report and with the DLSE. I’ve found no help with multiple agency filings. The California DLSE has utterly collapsed. There is no recovery. They just told me that after my more than 3.5 year wait to date. I can expect to wait another 3-5 years just to get to a hearing!
It is a myth that wage theft predominately happens to low wage workers. Six figure earners are also represented in the huge numbers of wage theft victims. Women are the most frequent targets. I’m experiencing my third incident of wage theft in the past 20 years. This time at the hands of the founder of an electric vehicle company located in Los Angeles County. Total claim in excess of $75K, including non-payment of wages, nearly $10K in unreimbursed business expenses. He is a repeat offender.
All – literally all – news and enforcement action of wage theft is aimed at class action suits for “low-wage workers”. Yes they are important. So are we all. Wage theft can and does happen to anyone in any industry or wage bracket. Time to stop the fallacy this is just about workers at carwashes, restaurants, trucking and construction sites. (note as well most enforcement benefits male-dominated occupations, while more women become the targets of wage theft).
We need across-the-board protections for all workers. Not special carve-outs industry-per-industry. It’s so convoluted that we need to scrap the whole system and start fresh. That won’t happen.
Adding to the insult. This company also benefits from millions in State Climate Funds as well as Federal electric vehicle grant and incentive programs. We are literally showering someone – a foreigner – who should rightfully be convicted of a felony – with Millions in grant funds! He has raised over $100 Million and is filing for an IPO while I’m still years away from a hearing.
I am writing letters to many officials, department heads, DA’s and even to immigration under deportable offenses (company is foreign but now based in California). So far to no avail. This is not a difficult problem to fix. Why nobody has the will to do so beyond my comprehension. We are bleeding uncollected taxes, watching livelihoods collapse, and forcing local government to fund austerity programs for the victims. We need better laws, streamlined processes for workers, need to require the posting of a bond up front, enforce criminal prosecutions against ALL perpetrators, and take a serious look at how we can deny participation in State and Federal programs for these companies who commit wage theft.
If I steal from my boss $950 or more. I get charged immediately with felony charges and face jail time. He steals over $50K from me, and it’s just a civil matter that nobody cares about. It’s just the norm. It’s a rigged system. Why is our government rigging it against its own interests (tax collection, societal cost burdens) and that of the citizens it serves?
I don’t think most people identify with low-wage workers, so aren’t tuned in to this as a priority problem for them. The media perpetuates the myth that it’s “just” low-wage earners. If people realized how across-the-board wage theft really is, the sheer numbers Nationally, the damages it causes. I think more people would be inclined to get more vocal about this with their representatives. This is government-sanctioned employer grand theft on a grand scale. We have to stop it!