L.A. Charges Encino Restaurant With Illegal Labor Practices

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office Friday filed 25 criminal charges against the owners of Masada, a popular Encino restaurant, alleging that a variety of illegal labor practices deprived employees of $82,450 in wages.

The restaurant is charged with paying some employees less than the minimum wage, requiring waiters to turn over part of their tips to management and failing to pay some workers at all.

Lack of Wages Alleged

Investigators for the State Department of Industrial Relations allege that two busboys who worked for the restaurant for two years received no wages from the restaurant. The busboys instead were compensated by waiters, who were required by management to hand over a percentage of their tips, according to affidavits filed in the case.

Under state law, tips cannot be counted as part of the minimum wage. The minimum must be paid regardless of the amount of tips.

Each misdemeanor count against the restaurant’s owners, Marilyn Culbertson and Avi Datner, carries a possible penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, Deputy City Atty. Richard Schmidt said.

Contacted at the restaurant, Datner said that he is innocent of all charges. “As far as I know, we never did anything illegal,” he said.

“We pay everyone more than the minimum wage. The story is very simple. There were employees we had to get rid of. And when we got rid of them, they filed a complaint with the labor department. Now it’s in our attorney’s hands.”

Gordon P. Gitlen, who represents Datner and the restaurant, said the Department of Industrial Relations has “insufficient evidence, lack of foundation for evidence it does have, and has denied our client due process of law.”

The state agency last year initiated administrative proceedings charging that the restaurant was violating state labor codes. Gitlen, in turn, filed a civil action against the state in Los Angeles County Superior Court in February asking for judicial review of the allegations.

The restaurant, which opened for business in 1981, is one of a handful of Israeli restaurants in Los Angeles, serving such dishes as lamb shish kebab, moussaka and falafel, Gitlen said. The restaurant, where entrees cost about $10, seats between 50 and 70 patrons.

Deputy State Labor Commissioner Tongkun Kim said that many employees at the restaurant were paid in cash, without any deductions or deduction statements. They were paid monthly salaries that ranged from $500 to $600 after working 50 to 60 hours each week, which placed them below the $3.35 minimum hourly wage set both by state and federal law, he said.

Employee Tells of Payments

One former employee who filed a complaint with the Department of Industrial Relations said that waitresses were required to pay management 2.5% of the total of their patrons’ checks each day. That money, according to an affidavit filed Friday, was earmarked to go to the busboys.

But, Datner said, “We never required our employees to do that. I don’t know what they are talking about.”

The alleged labor code infractions, which involved 10 former employees, occurred between May 10, 1982, and last week, Schmidt said.

Culbertson and Datner will be formally notified of the alleged infractions and will be arraigned within three weeks, Schmidt said.

Gitlen said his clients will plead not guilty.

Regardless of the outcome of the case, the restaurant, at 16260 Ventura Blvd., cannot be shut for the alleged violations because they do not involve health or safety infractions, Schmidt said.

Former employees said many of the workers at the restaurant were Israelis, unfamiliar with U.S. labor practices.