What’s at stake?
Fresno City Council was one of the first municipalities in California to take advantage of a state law empowering city attorneys to begin prosecuting wage theft. Nine months after the formation of Fresno’s wage theft unit, Fresno’s city attorney is bringing forward its first case on behalf of construction workers that allege they were paid as little as $50 a day for renovations to a Fresno hotel.
The Fresno City Attorney’s Office is prosecuting its first wage theft case on behalf of workers who were paid as little as $50 a day for construction work at a local Holiday Inn.
City Attorney Andrew Janz shared details of the complaint Monday, which was filed in Fresno County Superior Court on May 9.
The complaint names Pinnacle Hospitality and Development Inc. as well as individuals Lakhwinder Singh Brar and Juan Moreno as defendants.
Pinnacle’s principal place of business is listed in the complaint as 7191 W. Kathryn Ave., the address of a Holiday Inn Express & Suites.
Fresnoland reached out to Pinnacle on Monday morning for comment.
At least 11 workers experienced multiple violations of state Labor Code, Janz told Fresnoland.
Janz’s office alleges Pinnacle refused to pay workers minimum wage and overtime, failed to provide rest and meal breaks and didn’t keep proper records of wages, among other violations.
His office will be seeking roughly $58,000 in unpaid wages to employees – as well as punitive damages that could add up to “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he added.
The case comes over a year after the Fresno City Council approved the formation of the city’s wage theft program. The unit in the City Attorney’s Office officially began receiving complaints in August last year – and heard numerous complaints against Pinnacle in that first month, according to court documents.
Councilmember Tyler Maxwell, who sponsored the legislation last year that created the program, joined Janz at Monday’s news conference to issue a warning to local companies cheating workers out of wages.
“We will find out about you,” he said, “we will pursue you, and we will bring you to justice.”
What else does the wage theft complaint say?
The allegations in the complaint took place between August 2023 and September 2024.
According to the complaint, Pinnacle brought on Moreno, one of the co-defendants, to complete construction work at the hotel at a faster and cheaper rate than their original contractor.
Moreno then recruited workers to perform various jobs, including installing tiles, carpet and sheetrock, as well as painting and demolition.
“There were no written contracts,” Janz said. “All of the agreements were made orally, and payment was to be in cash.”
Some workers still have yet to receive any of that pay, however, the complaint alleges.
Janz said the case is strictly civil at this time and that his office isn’t pursuing criminal charges or “trying to put anyone in jail.”
“If we have a situation where the parties don’t become cooperative,” he said, “it could turn into a criminal matter. But at this point, it’s a civil matter.”
Both the complaint and Maxwell described the affected workers as “vulnerable.”
Janz declined to elaborate on what vulnerable refers to specifically, citing HIPAA protections – which protect the privacy of individuals’ health information.
The future of the Fresno wage theft program
The complaint against Pinnacle is the first wage theft case filed by Janz’s office – though the City Attorney’s Office has “at least 10 to 12” active cases, Janz said.
The filing comes nine months after the wage theft program first launched in August 2024.
The past several months involved building up the infrastructure for the new program, Maxwell said, including holding community meetings to raise awareness of it to beginning intake on cases.
But they plan to file complaints “much more swiftly” from now on, he added.
“And I guarantee you,” Maxwell said, “there are more cases that will be coming forward.”
Part of getting the new wage theft team off the ground involved going after a state grant administered by the Labor Commissioner’s Office. Fresno’s wage theft program received $720,000, one of the largest awards given out in the state, Maxwell said, through the Workers’ Rights Enforcement Grant program.
The councilmember said he’ll continue to pursue grants to keep the program afloat and “to alleviate any potential burden on the general fund,” which they haven’t dipped into for the wage theft program so far.
Maxwell added that, if needed, he would fight for funding from the city budget “as hard as I would (for) anything else that I championed over the last five years I’ve been in office.”
How to report wage theft in the City of Fresno
Maxwell encouraged workers to contact 559-621-7599 in order to report wage theft that happens in the City of Fresno.
A news release from the City Attorney’s Office also referred workers to an online complaint filing portal on the city’s website.
“If you are experiencing wage theft, please make sure that you keep all of your documents, all of your communications with your employers,” Janz said. “Keep your pay stubs, if they exist. Any information that you retain will be helpful to the investigation.”
Foreign-born workers, both documented and undocumented, are disproportionate victims of wage theft, a 2021 analysis by the Center for Public Integrity found.
Janz said undocumented workers that experience wage theft within the City of Fresno are welcome to bring forward a claim to the City Attorney’s Office.
“They have my guarantee” he said, “that that information will not be used against them or turned over to the federal government.”
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