US Department of Labor recovers more than $71K for 3 workers exempted from overtime improperly by popular Sonoma County restaurant owner

HEALDSBURG, CA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found one of four restaurants owned by popular Sonoma County chef Octavio Diaz willfully denied three workers at its Healdsburg establishment of more than $35,000 in overtime wages.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Diaz shortchanged three employees at Agave Mexican Restaurant and Bar by depriving them of overtime pay and paying them instead a flat salary regardless of how many hours they worked. The division also found the employer paid one worker less than minimum wage after once missing payroll and failed to produce all required records, such as employees’ dates of birth, including for those under the age of 16. 

“This Sonoma County restaurant owner has found there are costly consequences for willfully violating federal regulations that protect employees’ rights to be paid fully for their work,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Alberto Raymond in Walnut Creek, California. “This employer denied workers thousands of dollars in wages for their hard work, but thanks to this investigation they now will be paid as the law requires.”

To resolve Diaz’s violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the division recovered a total of $71,454, representing $35,727 in unpaid wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, and assessed $11,212 in civil money penalties given the employer’s willful violations.

“We continue to find restaurant industry workers being denied their rightful wages and remain vigilant in rooting out unscrupulous business operators who take advantage of those whose hard work helps restaurants succeed,” Raymond added. “We encourage workers to contact us, even anonymously, if they feel their rights are being violated.” 

In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $29 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry nationwide.

Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit and an overview about FLSA protections for restaurant workers. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.