LOS ANGELES — California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower has filed a lawsuit against a Bellflower business, alleging – among other things – that MobileWash failed to register as a car-wash employer and failed to pay minimum wage to its employees.
Paola Laverde, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Industrial Relations, said the reason for the lawsuit was not only because of the company's misclassification issue but also because it violated other laws.
"MobileWash was given early attention because, in addition to the misclassification issue, it is operating in violation of registration requirements applicable to the car-wash industry that are enforced by the Labor Commissioner," Laverde told the Southern California Record.
Lilia Garcia-Brower
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Garcia-Brower filed the lawsuit against the company for violating Assembly Bill 5 by classifying its workers as independent contractors instead of employees. MobileWash provides on-demand car-wash and detailing services by employing "gig-economy" workers.
The labor commissioner's office calculated that an employee with MobileWash working 10 hours a day for six days a week should receive $1,521 in wages. The lawsuit alleges that since it began in 2014 or 2015, MobileWash has always misclassified its employees as independent contractors instead of employees.
California's AB 5 went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year, forcing companies to classify workers as employees unless they can adhere to certain criteria. Garcia-Brower claims that the defendant failed to establish any of the criteria.
She claims that MobileWash willfully misclassified its workers, failed to register as a car-wash employer, failed to pay minimum wage for all hours worked, failed to pay wages for rest periods, failed to pay rest-period premium pay, failed to pay overtime compensation for overtime hours worked, failed to indemnify employees for necessary business expenses, unlawfully took gratuities, failed to provide itemized-wage statements, failed to comply with paid sick leave requirements and failed to timely pay earned wages.
Garcia-Brower is seeking an order enjoining the company from misclassifying employees, as well as damages and civil penalties. She is represented by Miles E. Locker, the attorney for the State Labor Commission.