SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Three San Diego County companies operating near the U.S.-Mexico border that federal authorities say underpaid their workers have paid nearly $840,000 in money owed to the employees, plus damages, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday.
The labor law violations alleged by the Department of Labor are part of "a troubling increase in wage theft by customs brokers and freight- forwarding and logistics companies operating near the Mexican border," according to a department news release.
The department said 32 employees at Ruffo de Alba Forwarders LP, SAI Logistics Exports Inc. and Moving Technologies of America Inc. were paid in Mexican pesos in amounts that were around $3 per hour, well below minimum wage.
According to the Department of Labor:
-- Ruffo de Alba Forwarders LP paid workers as low as $3.27 per hour in pesos and denied overtime pay for hours exceeding 40 in a workweek. A consent judgment reached in San Diego federal court ordered the company and its owner to pay $222,899 in wages owed to 14 workers, plus damages for a total of $445,798. The company also paid $8,645 in penalties to the Department of Labor.
-- SAI Logistics Exports Inc. denied overtime wages and paid workers as low as $3.86 per hour. Another consent judgment ordered SAI to pay $318,249 in minimum wage, overtime and liquidated damages to 13 workers. The company also paid$8,645 in penalties.
-- Moving Technologies of America Inc. paid some workers as low as $2.77 per hour. The company paid $75,132 in back wages and damages for five employees, as well as over $3,000 in penalties.
The Department of Labor said similar cases have resulted in more than $5 million paid since 2021 in back wages and damages for over 300 workers from customs warehouse, logistics and freight forwarding employers in the San Diego area.
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