O.C. Company Ordered to Pay Back Wages, Damages

The federal Labor Department said Friday that a federal judge has ordered clothing manufacturer Wear Fashion Co. to pay 89 workers $425,992 in back wages and damages.

The Labor Department, in a civil suit, alleged that Wear Fashion’s owners did not pay some workers minimum wage or overtime, and the federal court in Los Angeles last month ordered the company to pay $212,996 in back wages. The judge ordered the company to pay workers the same amount in damages.

Labor Department investigators said the Santa Ana company did not pay the minimum wage of $3.35--later raised to $4.25--between February, 1989, and February, 1991.

The workers, most of whom are Latino, will get payments of between $174 and $10,725, the Labor Department said.

The owners of Wear Fashion, identified as Ming Dong (Tony) Tsai and wife, Ching Chi Liau (Kelly) Tsai, were named in the suit but not fined. They could not be reached for comment.