Operator of Homes for the Aged Facing California Labor Lawsuit

Union City, CAA California labor lawsuit has been filed by the US Department of Labor against the owners and operators of elderly and assisted living facilities located in Union City. The allegations include various wage and hour violations against the California labor code.

According to a report published last week in the Contra Costa Times (12/8/15), the targets of the lawsuit are the owners of San Miguel Homes for the Elderly LLC. Specifically, the owners as identified in the news report are Precilla San Miguel, Teofilo Cris Sanque and Ryan San Miguel.

The California labor code lawsuit, filed December 4 in California Northern District Court affects 22 employees who allege they worked for substandard wages for a period beginning October 21, 2012.

The California labor lawsuit alleges violations to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) through allegations that employees worked for a flat daily rate that did not account for all hours the employees might have worked.

Specifically, according to the Contra Costa Times, the lawsuit alleges the owners and operators of the facilities failed to keep proper and adequate records of the hours employees worked. To that end, allegations include a claim that records may not have been kept at all. As a result, employees allege they routinely worked more than 40 hours in a given week but were not provided overtime pay, a violation of California labor employment law and federal statutes.

San Miguel Homes for the Elderly LLC operates three residential care facilities in Union City.

The named plaintiff in the California labor lawsuit is Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of Labor. The case has been assigned to Judge Donna M. Ryu in California Northern District Court and alleges, among other claims, a violation of 15:2(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

There are various avenues by which employers fail to pay their employees adequate wages. One, as alleged above, is improper record keeping. Another is off-the-clock work, where employees are made to perform tasks on behalf of the employer either before clocking in or after clocking out - essentially working on their own time, rather than being paid a fair wage. Another strategy of employers who try to take advantage of their employees is to wrongly classify qualifying employees as exempt from overtime.

There are strict provisions in both California and Labor law and the FLSA relating to the proper payment of wages and overtime.

The case is Perez v. San Miguel Homes for the Elderly LLC et al, Case Number 4:15-cv-05556 in US District Court for the Northern District of California.