Labour Department says that Vita gazette – California restaurant had a fake priest hear workers’ confessions.

A California restaurant had an individual impersonate a priest to encourage employees to confess their “sins” against their employer. Still, a diocese spokesman said the man has no links with the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. “Our investigation found no evidence of any connection between the Diocese of Sacramento and the alleged priest in this matter,” Bryan J. Visitacion, director of media and communications for the Diocese of Sacramento, “While we don’t know who the person in question was, we are completely confident he was not a priest of the Diocese of Sacramento.”

The situation concerns Che Garibaldi Inc., which operates two Taqueria Garibaldi restaurants in Sacramento and one in Roseville.

During the Department of Labor’s litigation in federal court, an employee testified that restaurant operator Eduardo Hernandez offered a person identified as a priest to hear confessions during work hours.

According to the employee, the supposed priest urged employees to “get the sins out.” He asked them if they had stolen from their employer, been late for work, or done anything to harm their employer. The purported priest also asked if they had bad intentions toward their employer, the Department of Labor said.

“He asked if I ever got pulled over for speeding, if I drank alcohol, or if I had stolen anything. The priest mostly had work-related questions, which I thought was strange.”

Numerous employees went to confession with the supposed priest. Raquel Alfaro, an investigator with the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, said the workers felt Hernandez “brought the priest to intimidate them.”

During the investigation, when it was determined that overtime was not paid in the restaurant, the restaurant owner Garibaldi and the operator were fined 140 thousand dollars in past salaries and compensations and a 5 thousand dollar penalty to 35 employees.

Investigators said the restaurant denied employee overtime pay and illegally paid managers from the employee tip pool. The employers threatened employees with retaliation and immigration-related consequences for cooperating with investigators and fired one worker they believed had complained to the Labor Department.

The employer has agreed to a consent judgment and settlement. U.S. Judge William B. Shubb on May 8 ordered Che Garibaldi LLC and its operators, Eduardo Hernandez, Hector Manual Martinez Galindo, and Alejandro Rodriguez, to pay $70,000 in back wages and $70,000 in damages to 35 employees. In addition, the restaurant and its owners must pay $5,000 in civil penalties to the Department of Labor.