After years of enduring mental abuse, discrimination and little to no pay, former car wash workers celebrated winning a lawsuit against their employer.
The two-year lawsuit against Caribbean Car Wash in Elizabeth ended on Thursday after 24 former workers received settlement checks as part of an unpaid wages million-dollar settlement.
The workers, mostly Spanish speakers, detailed in the lawsuit the unpaid overtime hours and multiple minimum wage violations under federal and state laws.
"It was hard work," said Julio Ochoa who worked at the car wash for six years. "We didn't have health care and we faced a lot of psychological abuse. We were paid $5 an hour and mistreated because of our race."
A week after New Jersey toughened penalties for wage theft in 2019, the workers filed the class-action suit in U.S. District Court in Newark. They alleged Caribbean Car Wash and its operators failed to abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act and New Jersey Wage Payment Law by allowing managers to take the tips of workers, not follow record-keeping requirements and fail to maintain proper and complete payroll records.
But some workers didn't want to be included in the lawsuit against their employer.
"When you're dependent upon [your job] to support your family and perhaps to send money back to a family in another country, it's very difficult and risky to bring a lawsuit," said Steven Arenson of Arenson, Dittmar & Karban, the lead attorney representing the car wash workers in the...
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