California: $184,000 fine for requiring its employees to confess

The owners of a California restaurant will have to pay nearly $140,000 (CAD $184,000) in damages after they tried to get an “alleged” priest to confess the “occupational sins” of 35 employees.

An employee at Taqueria Garibaldi in Sacramento said the owners offered to hear about “sins” that occurred in the workplace during the U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

According to the survey, using a chaplain for alleged misconduct in the workplace “can be among the most brazen forms of retaliation.”

The New York Post noted that the pseudo-religious would specifically question employees about stealing from their boss or being late to work.

Also, the employees were not paid for the extra hours worked.

The investigation noted that “they also learned that the employer was illegally paying managers from the employee tip pool, threatening employees with retaliation and negative immigration consequences if they cooperated with management, and firing a worker they believed complained to management.”

The enterprise operator, Che Garibaldi Inc., therefore agreed. , as well as owners to compensate their employees. They will owe $70,000 in back wages, $70,000 in damages and $5,000 in civil penalties.