CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SANTA ANA
The owners of a Gardena maid service were taken into custody after failing to comply with a court order to pay $3.5 million in back wages plus interest, fines and liquidated damages to more than 385 workers.
Sergio Maldonado and Lorenza Rubio surrendered Friday at U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, said Deanne Amaden, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Labor. They were released Tuesday after appearing in court and agreeing to pay $30,000 by Nov. 5, Amaden said. Maldonado and Rubio have until Nov. 12 to pay the balance of the money they owe, she said.
After an investigation by the Labor Department, the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana determined that the couple’s company, Southern California Maid Service and Carpet Cleaning Inc., had wrongly classified its home and carpet cleaners as independent contractors, Amaden said. The company failed to pay workers the federally required minimum wage or overtime.
-- Nicole Santa-Cruz
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