Slave labor in Thousand Oaks, California? Eww. What do you think?

Question

"THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit has been brought against a Thousand Oaks car wash operating in violation of California labor laws. The suit alleges that the owners of the Thousand Oaks Hand Wash hired undocumented workers and subjected them to slavery-like conditions, including forcing them to work for free for the first month and denying them overtime pay. If they stayed long enough to earn the right to be paid, they received well below minimum wage and they endured constant threats of deportation."

The suit alleges that Hand Wash, which is located at 2725 Thousand Oaks Blvd., knowingly employs undocumented workers whose lack of English skills and fear of immigration services make them easily exploited.

Hand Wash allegedly refuses to pay its employees for up to as much as the first month, after which employment may be severed without compensation if Hand Wash is not satisfied with their performance.

The Complaint filed in Ventura County Superior Court, Simi Valley Division states that the named plaintiff was told that if he did a good job, he would then begin earning money at $5.00 per hour. This is well below both the current California minimum wage of $7.50 and the previous minimum wage of $6.25. The suit goes on to allege that Hand Wash required employees to report to work at 8:00 AM but they did not get paid until the first cars came in later in the morning. It also alleges that employees were forced to regularly work more than 10 hours per day, often times seven days per week, with no rest or lunch breaks or overtime pay."

What I think is a) this is wrong. and b) is someone still arguing that illegal immigration doesn't drive down wages?

El Chile, I agree that abusing them is wrong, but I think giving them green cards would send the wrong message. Due to their being here, those legally here weren't hired at minimum wage, either.

Answer 1

THis is not the first time slave labor was found in THousand oaks. I love that city though. I remember a flower nursery had Thai slaves working there a while back. I do agree with Chili that the illegal immigrants should be paid back pay and damages, but only on their way out of this country.

Answer 2

Thousand Oaks is very nice. It's 1/2 hour from Malibu beach. The people are friendly , good schools and a nice Civic Arts plaza. I'm not really fond of the city , But Hollywood is about 45 minutes away. And yes, 325 days of sunshine and our coldest days are in the 60s , but even those are rare I live one town over in Simi Valley ,

Answer 3

I'm sorry, I don't see the validity of the suit. Illegals proudly come here to undercut the minimum wage. They brag about it constantly. They don't want to be a part of the legal working class - their own words - so they can be protected from situations like this. I would be curious to know the nationality of the owners and managers of this car wash. I also fail to see how illegal anyone has the right to sue anyone. This is once again an argument in favor of supporting legal immigration. And no, for you bashers, I do not in any way condone what this business has done, but this is a criminal case not a compensation case and I hope they spend many, many years in jail for crimes against humanity!!!

Answer 4

Well, maybe when they get deported they can tell their amigos how terrible they were treated. Hopefully, this will act as a deterrent. I have no sympathy at all for the illegal aliens because they brazenly entered ILLEGALLY on their own accord.

Now, the employer should be completely shut down and his business assets confiscated and the owner(s) should serve a long mandatory jail sentence for a list of crimes including hiring illegals, hiring practices/harassment, unfair wages, tax evasion, etc.

Answer 5

The employer, if these facts are accurate, is horrible. He should be in jail FOR HIRING ILLEGALS.

The illegals should be deported for being here illegally. They came here by choice. They were not force to work for this scum bag. However, just because they worked for a bad man doesn't give the right to work here or to stay.

Answer 6

It is wrong on all counts. 1 for hireing illegals in the first place then treating them like slaves. 2. Shut them down fine them heavily and deport the workers. Simple. Maybe it will make other companys take notice.

Answer 7

The employer's butt should be in prison (and the rest of him too). He took advantage of these illegal alien criminals.

BTW, the illegals should still be deported since they aren't suppose to be here.

Answer 8

Well I totally agree this is wrong so I'm with you on that. The issue of illegals bringing down wages is a lot more complex. For example at some point and time a car wash would just move to automatic washes before paying a high salary to the people who wash by hand because their customers wouldn't accept the increase in prices so there is a balance there.

Answer 9

Who made them work there?
Were they picked up by gunpoint and made to work?
Or did they enter this country illegally of their own accord and apply for employment illegally ?

Sounds to me like a personal problem for them- when you make bad choices bad things happen.

Answer 10

I cannot believe constant threats of deportation can be much of factor. The police cannot even get known criminals deported, I do not believe that part. I must ask why didn't they contact La Raza if things were this bad ?