The Washington Lawyers’ Committee and the law firm of Latham and Watkins have filed a complaint against Tito Contractors, Inc., a D.C. area construction company, on behalf of more than one hundred of its current and former employees.

The report – which was released by the Employment Justice Center (EJC), the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (Washington Lawyers’ Committee) – also demonstrated how the District’s efforts to combat wage theft and encourage compliance with wage and hour laws have been inadequate. Drawing on their experience as workers’ rights advocates, the authors gathered numerous accounts of wage and hour violations that demonstrated the severity and pervasiveness of wage theft in the District and how the Department of Employment Services has failed to address the problem. The report includes personal accounts of workers’ failed attempts at recovering unpaid wages, which illustrate why DC needs to restructure its administrative process for handling workers’ complains.

Examining precedents of wage theft prevention efforts in New York, Massachusetts, and California, the authors outline legislative proposals that could establish the District as a leading jurisdiction in combating wage theft. The report also explains how the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2014, a bill that was co-introduced by Councilmembers Vincent Orange, Jim Graham, and Mary Cheh on February 4, 2014, could amend District law to provide a transparent, efficient, and reliable process to file and resolve wage claims, thereby keeping dishonest and unscrupulous employers accountable and ensuring that the rights of workers across the District are upheld and respected. More specifically, the bill would:

• Establish formal procedures for recovering unpaid wages, such as administrative hearings with enforceable judgments
• Increase penalties for wage and hour law violations, thereby covering the costs of enforcing these laws as well as deterring employers from exploiting their workers
• Require employers to issue formal notice of employees’ normal and overtime pay rates
• Toll the statute of limitations for filing wage theft complaints when employers fail to post notices of workers’ rights
• Hold general contractors jointly accountable with subcontractors for stolen wages
• Increase workers’ access to legal representation.

“Lack of effective deterrence, as well as woefully inadequate enforcement of DC’s minimum wage and overtime laws, make it all too easy for an unscrupulous employer to commit wage theft and nearly impossible for victims of wage theft to hold their employers accountable,” says Ari Weisbard, deputy director of the Employment Justice Center. “DC needs to do more to deter employers from committing wage theft and to provide a fair system for workers to resolve their claims.”

Matthew Handley, director of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Immigrant and Refugee Rights Projects at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, states that “the proposed Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2014 is a significant step towards putting the necessary tools for recovery of stolen wages in the hands of the most vulnerable and most exploited victims.”

“All workers should be paid for their honest labor. DC’s current wage theft claims process is plagued by delays and uncertainties that leave many victims of wage theft without a means to recover stolen wages,” said Erandi Zamora, associate counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The proposed Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2014 would ensure that fundamental protections are in place to give D.C. workers a fair opportunity to recover earned wages.”

To view the report click here.

Media Contacts:

Ari Weisbard, Employment Justice Center
202-645-9296 (o) or 202-670-1590 (c), [email protected]

Rahwa Andemichael, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
202-662-8347, [email protected]

Matthew K. Handley, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
202-319-1000 x121, [email protected]

About the Employment Justice Center:

Founded on Labor Day 2000, the mission of the Employment Justice Center is to secure, protect and promote workplace justice in the D.C. metropolitan area.  Since our founding, the EJC has successfully used a combination of strategies to protect the rights of low-income workers, including legal services, policy advocacy, community organizing, and education.  In the past thirteen years, the EJC has returned more than $7,000,000 to the pockets of low-wage workers, achieved many legislative victories that have touched the lives of countless workers, and educated thousands of workers about their rights and responsibilities on the job. For more information, visit www.dcejc.org.

About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2013 and continue our quest of “Moving America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and fair lending; community development; employment; voting; education and environmental justice. For more information about the Lawyers’ Committee, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org, Twitter (@LawyersComm) and Facebook (Lawyers’ Committee).

About the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs:

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was established in 1968 to provide pro bono legal services to address discrimination and entrenched poverty in the Washington, DC community. From its inception in 1968, the mission of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs has been to mobilize the resources of the private bar to address issues of civil rights violations and poverty in our community. Over the past 45 years, the Committee’s efforts and programs have expanded from a small staff focused primarily on issues of racial discrimination into a far larger organization providing pro bono representation in a broad range of civil rights and related poverty issues impacting every group protected by our federal, state and local civil rights laws.