Two brothers who own four Los Angeles car washes were each sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $1.25 million in unpaid wages to 54 workers, in what the City Attorney’s Office on Monday called a “landmark” plea deal.
Benny and Nissan Pirian each pleaded no contest Friday to a half-dozen criminal counts, including conspiracy and grand theft, and several Labor Code violations, said Deputy City Attorney Julia Figueira-McDonough, who helped prosecute the case. They were each sentenced to 365 days in jail and four years of probation, and ordered to pay restitution.
According to the criminal complaint, workers received a flat rate of $35 to $40 a day – far below the federal and state minimum wages – and no overtime. A few workers were paid only with tips, according to city prosecutors. The workers, who often labor in extreme heat, said they were also discouraged from taking breaks and were not provided with clean drinking water. They also were threatened with physical harm when they reported the violations and tried to unionize.
• Read the full City News Service story (via the Daily Breeze).
