Labor Dept. drops lawsuit against county Mexican restaurant, investigation still ongoing
The Labor Department earlier this month conditionally dropped its federal lawsuit against a chain of three Mexican restaurants in Centre County, though an investigation into wage-theft allegations is ongoing.
The department and Lupita’s Authentic Mexican Food had the suit voluntarily dismissed after reaching an agreement to ensure workers are not discriminated or retaliated against if they cooperate with the investigation.
U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Connor closed the case Sept. 1. Both investigators and the business may reopen the lawsuit if the agreement is violated.
Lupita’s attorney Faith Lucchesi said Tuesday she is “very confident” owner Emilio Lopez and his wife Maria Guadalupe Rojas “acted within the bounds of the law.” She declined further comment.
”Threatening to punish workers for participating in a protected activity is illegal and unacceptable,” Labor Department regional solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III said in a written statement. “We pursued this legal action to prevent this type of behavior.”
The department launched an investigation in June into allegations the business forced at least three employees to work to pay off the cost of their transportation to the United States, ducked overtime laws and unlawfully seized tips.
Lopez and Rojas, a Labor Department attorney wrote in the lawsuit, threatened and intimidated employees who complained or made attempts to quit because of poor working conditions.
Lucchesi denied several of the allegations in her August response, writing Lopez and Rojas did not loan anyone money to travel to the United States. The loans that were handed out had little — if anything — to do with the business, she wrote.
Lopez sent his sister and her ex-boyfriend money in an attempt to save their failing produce business in Mexico, Lucchesi wrote. But she and her ex-boyfriend’s nephew used the money to come to the United States.
They arrived with little. Lopez and Rojas offered them housing, food and cellphones because they “remembered clearly how hard survival was when they arrived in the United States,” Lucchesi wrote.
Both ended up working at Lupita’s, but not because of an existing obligation to repay the money, Lucchesi wrote.
The department’s lawsuit also alleged the business withheld wages for rent and that Lopez told a worker he owed thousands of dollars in debt. His final paycheck was retained, but Lucchesi wrote it was kept as part of an agreement to cover an outstanding balance.
The agreement bars Lupita’s from retaliating against any current or former workers who speak with investigators. The department may still bring claims for back wages and damages.