Santa Clara County files suit against in-home care business for alleged wage theft

SAN JOSE County representatives released a lawsuit Wednesday against a Milpitas-based home care business and three individuals who allegedly exploited several dozen immigrant care workers with wage theft and other labor law violations The individuals and home care business which is called Safejourney Shipping LLC and also operates under the name Happy Trip Home Care are accused of paying less than minimum wage failing to pay overtime and failing to provide meal and rest breaks among other unlawful business practices according to court filings The message that we are sending with this lawsuit is clear and it is simple we will hold accountable employers who seek to profit by violating the law and exploiting vulnerable immigrant workers Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti disclosed at a news conference We will be sure that they face their day in court The circumstance which resulted from a year-long analysis names three defendants Armando Ogerio de Castro Jr Michelle Sison Delos Reyes and Edmund Vasquez Olaso LoPresti mentioned The three defendants allegedly hired immigrant workers to provide live-in care to elderly people hours per day and seven days per week without meal and rest breaks while paying next to nothing in various cases less than per hour far below the state minimum wage of per hour The job these immigrant workers perform is grueling LoPresti revealed They have sole responsibility to care for individuals with serious life requirements They assist with bathing with dressing with toileting with meals with mobility In essence these workers are responsible for keeping these elderly folks alive and well The three defendants and the business could not be reached for comment The county is seeking an immediate injunction to prevent any further unlawful activity as well as restitution for the alleged wage theft and identity theft declared Valerie Brender deputy county counsel Brender added that the defendants conspire together and work in coordination with each other running certain but not all of the alleged illegal activity through the business and specific in their own names The defendants are also accused of failing to provide workers with wage statements LoPresti added They allegedly failed to pay wages in a timely manner and upon separation of employment according to court documents In at least one event the defendants allegedly took an employee to the bank opened an account in her name then confiscated her passport and bank cards to use the account without her consent LoPresti reported The basic protections and equity that we have come to expect and assume of an American workplace are not present in these homes LoPresti announced While these workers toil away for extreme subminimum wages the defendants pocket hundreds of dollars a day in profit off of their labor While the workers were paid between and per day working out to between and an hour the defendants were allegedly charging clients between and per day for services according to court documents The defendants are also not licensed under the Home Care Consumer Protection Act the suit alleges yet they publicly present themselves as providers of in-home care LoPresti added that the issue of immigrant worker vulnerability is compounded by the Trump administration s unprecedented anti immigration campaign that expressly and aggressively attempts to instill fear in our immigrant communities It s heartbreaking to hear what these workers endured Numerous of our in-home care workers are immigrants and may be unfamiliar with their rights leaving them vulnerable to this kind of exploitation Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong stated at the news conference No one should ever have to experience that kind of abuse especially from someone they trusted as an employer That s why it s so critical for the county to take county to take a stand by enforcing the law and holding bad actors accountable Duong also noted that the county offers a free legal advice line at - - for workers and businesses to speak with an attorney and get help addressing workplace issues and labor standards compliance Tess Brillante a former in-home care worker who is not associated with this wage-theft event announced in Tagalog through a translator that during her own time in the industry she had been paid less than minimum wage for fewer hours than she worked and that she was not given any breaks or sick days The job often requires care workers to carry out responsibilities beyond the scope of their work from caring for patients partners and cleaning the house to attending to pets and cooking Related Articles Neo-Nazi leader resurfaces in the Bay Area faces lawsuit over violent hate rally in Tennessee Estate of Bay Area celebrity chef Michael Chiarello accuses ex-executive of helping seize control of his restaurant empire Ex-Oakland mayoral staffer prepares to file lawsuit alleging wrongful termination Supreme Court rejects call to overturn its decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide Family of -year-old killed by falling tree branch in California park sues Basically it was no work no pay she mentioned The majority of helpers experience all kinds of exploitation and hardship in their workplaces but most of of them choose to keep silent and endure these terrible conditions out of fear of losing jobs or a place to live Workers not only need the job for their livelihood but also to send money back home to endorsement their families Ruth Silver Taube supervising attorney of the Worker s Rights Clinic at Santa Clara University School of Law added that in-home care workers often are women in their s and s with their own healthcare issues who express sadness stress and loneliness as they live in-home and experience isolation LoPresti added that the defendants may already be operating new businesses and that personnel expect additional casualties to come forward as litigation progresses