Restaurant Owners Used Fake Priest to Interrogate Workers, Stiffed Them on Pay
- California restaurant owners hired someone posing as a priest to extract "confessions" from employees about workplace "sins."
- The owners of Taqueria Garibaldi restaurants denied workers overtime pay and used pooled tips to pay managers illegally.
- The fake priest asked workers whether they were loyal to the owner and had ever stolen from him.
- Management threatened employees with "adverse immigration consequences" and retaliation for cooperating with investigators.
- The company will pay $140,000 in back wages and damages to 35 employees as part of a settlement with the Labor Department.