Contractor faces wage theft charges in first-of-kind case

By Sheri Williams

After an investigation begun by the Nor Cal Carpenters Union and the Sacramento-Sierra’s Building & Construction Trades Council, a Rocklin-based contractor is facing felony wage theft charges in Sacramento, a groundbreaking case in the fight to stop the exploitation of vulnerable workers.

Recently, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho announced the charges, surrounded by members of the Building Trades and Carpenters Union. Ho also announced that his office was creating a new division, a Workers’ Protection Unit, to investigate and prosecute more such wage theft cases. Ho said that unit is already working on a tip from the Sheet Metal Workers about another company that might be violating the law.

“We have some employers that refuse to follow labor laws in California,” Ho said. “Wage theft often targets the most vulnerable among us, from immigrants to day laborers to those that are trying to hang on every day. If you steal from a worker’s wages, you are stealing their rent, their groceries, and their dignity. But today is a new day in Sacramento because today those individuals will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

The charges Ho announced are against Rockin-based contractor ProFrame. Ho said the company allegedly underpaid workers, many undocumented, on a public affordable housing project in Oak Park. At least 15 employees were affected, Ho said, allegedly receiving only about 50% of the wages they were due, “meaning they were having workers work eight hours a day and only paid for four.”

Ho said that when workers complained, they were fired.

Nor Cal Carpenters Executive Officer Jay Bradshaw said the charges, “change the landscape to bring justice to workers in our state.”

“In the Carpenters Union, we refer to it as a crime scene of production because that is exactly what it is,” said Bradshaw. “Every single violation out there, this is what’s happening in building, in homes.”

Bradshaw said the union is “mission driven to take on those who exploit workers, to take on those who tear down our conditions, to send a message that we don’t see color, sex, race. We see what you do for a living. We want you to know that our union’s mission for over a hundred years is to pull those up who are exploited and into our family to keep us strong.”

Bradshaw also pointed out that the charges against ProFrame stem from work on a public works job.

“That means the taxpayer is being exploited as well,” he said.

Kevin Ferreira, executive director of the Sacramento-Sierra’s Building & Construction Trades Council, pointed out that, “wage theft has a historical record.”

“Sadly it still exists today,” said Feirrera. “But the good news today is that there’s a new tool in the toolbox called the Workers Protection Unit. This is something that we have been waiting for as long as I’ve been in construction.”

Ho said that the formation of the Workers Protection Unit meant that there will be more such prosecutions in the future.

“Today is about setting a precedent throughout California that we will not tolerate those who exploit workers,” Ho said. “It’s really a warning to the contractors out there, we have eyes on you.”

Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, an ally of Labor, also spoke.

“This is a great day for not only Sacramento but for workers throughout California and even our nation,” he said. “When you steal from workers, you steal from the community … When you steal as a company, you are just the same as the thief that goes into a bank with a mask over his face.”