Three San Diego-area businesses must pay nearly $2 million combined in back wages to 108 workers.
Wage and Hour Division investigators found three more customs warehouses in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act after the landmark Premar Global Warehouse Logistics investigation in September 2021, according to an April 8 Department of Labor release. The businesses reportedly payed workers in Mexican pesos for the equivalent of as little as $2.50 an hour.
“Through our enforcement efforts, these San Diego employers have come to realize that they cannot avoid federal labor protections simply because their employees return home across the border at the end of the workday,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said, according to the release. "We encourage others in this industry to take heed and avoid the costly consequences of worker exploitation by paying their employees as legally required. The department does not tolerate wage theft and worker abuse.”
The department’s Office of the Solicitor reached consent judgments against Columbia Export Group PDSA, OMG Global Logistics and Atlas Freight Forwarding, the release reported. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ordered them to pay the combined minimum and overtime back wages. They also must pay a total of $56,675 in penalties for “reckless disregard of the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements,” the release said.
“Exploitation like what we found in these investigations is unacceptable. No one should be paid as little as $2.50 per hour,” acting Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman said, according to the release. “The outcome of these cases sends a clear message that the U.S. Department of Labor will hold these labor law violators accountable.”
