Federal court blocks Southern California logistics company’s retaliation against workers, interference with federal investigation

SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a preliminary injunction and court order forbidding a Calexico logistics company from threatening or retaliating against its workers and further interfering with an ongoing federal investigation. 

When the investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division showed up at NBG Logistics 
Alliance Inc. worksites, the company removed workers and hid them for hours at a local fast-food restaurant until the investigators left. The company then instructed employees to work across the border in Mexicali before firing them and deleting proof of their employment from computers. 

The July 31, 2024, injunction and order by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California follows an investigation into the employer’s alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division is investigating whether NBG Logistics Alliance paid workers at its California warehouses in pesos through a Mexico-based affiliate, Agencia Aduanal Guillermo Nogueira y Asociados S.C.

“Despicably, NBG Logistics Alliance obstructed a federal investigation by hiding workers for hours off-site at a fast-food restaurant to prevent them from speaking with investigators,” explained Western Regional Solicitor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “To obstruct further, the employer and its Mexico-based affiliate instructed these workers to work in Mexico before terminating them and deleting records in an effort to cover-up its violations.”

The preliminary injunction stops NBG Logistics Alliance from doing the following:

• Retaliating against any employee believed to have spoken to a labor investigator.
• Interfering, obstructing or deterring any employee from cooperating in any investigation.
• Contacting or threatening to contact family or friends to keep workers from speaking to investigators.
• Destroying evidence related to the investigation.

The court also required NBG Logistics Alliance to restore all data, messages and programs deleted from computers and cell phones that contain evidence related to the investigation.

“Federal law protects employees working in the U.S., even if an entity outside the country hired them. Domestic employers that jointly employ such workers, like NBG Logistics Alliance, ignore this principle at their peril,” Pilotin added. “The U.S. Department of Labor will hold employers accountable when they violate workers’ rights and obstruct investigations, regardless of whether those workers return home across the border after the workday.” 

The action is part of an ongoing enforcement effort to root out abusive labor practices by employers operating in the customs warehouse industry. The division’s San Diego District Office conducted the investigation. The regional Office of the Solicitor in San Francisco is litigating the case.

NBG Logistics Alliance Inc. and its affiliate, Agencia Aduanal Guillermo Nogueira y Asociados, S.C. provide logistics support, including warehouse management, cross-dock and distribution services, customs compliance and clearance assistance at its California locations in San Diego and Calexico.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including regulations prohibiting retaliation and a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of immigration status. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). 

Download the agency’s Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices in English or Spanish to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

This news release is also available in Spanish.

Julie Su v. NBG Logistics Alliance Inc., a California corporation

Case 3:24-cv-01081-CAB-MMP