HollisterFreelance.com | Linen employees not paid, threatened to be deported

Linen employees not paid, threatened to be deported

Nov 14, 2008
By Nicole Baldocchi

More than a dozen industrial laundry employees, many of whom are undocumented, have been left wringing their hands and squeezing money from their pocketbooks after not being able to cash their last three paychecks.

Employees at West Coast Linen, a laundering service at 8190 Murray Ave., have not been paid for their last five weeks of work, employees said. Employees also allege that the company is pressuring them to keep quiet by threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which captures and deports illegal aliens. When contacted, a top employee at the Gilroy branch acknowledged that people were not being paid and that the company was in disarray.

"They keep lying to us and telling us to keep working and that there will be money in the bank in a couple of days," said a middle-aged female employee who asked not to have her name printed for fear of retaliation.

West Coast Linens' parent company, Sausalito-based Lohrey Enterprises Inc., filed for bankruptcy Oct. 17, according to records from the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Another female employee spoke to her manager about the troubles only to have him say that there is no secretary to deliver to checks and that he told everyone "not to deposit the checks because there was no money," she said.

At a later date, she was told by her supervisor that there is nothing any of the employees could do "if they're undocumented workers" and they could call immigration on them, she said.

She added that nearly everyone employed at West Coast Linen is undocumented.

A man at West Coast Linen, who answered the phone when The Dispatch asked to speak to a manager but refused to state his position or name, said "there's a lot more than two (who aren't getting paid) and right now I can't comment ... there are a lot of things going on in court right now." He also said there is no manager right now at the local company.

The crisis is spilling out to other businesses besides West Coast Linen. Juan Godinez owns Los Cuates Grocery Store in Hollister where a few employees of West Coast Linen have tried to cash their paychecks. Both the paychecks he cashed ended up bouncing and charging him a fee, he said. He now refuses to cash paychecks from any person bringing him a paycheck from the laundering company.

"Since yesterday, we were sent home and we were told they would call us when the water was back on," said another employee wishing to remain anonymous. She added that up until then everyone was still working.

"What we want is for them to stop lying and for them to pay what they owe us for hours we've worked already," an employee said.

A group of employees of West Coast Linen are going to San Jose on Monday to speak with a representative at the Self-help center at the Notre Dame Courthouse. The group is unsure what legal challenges they face trying to use the court system depite being undocumented, but employees are adamant about securing their wages.

"I'm almost willing to be deported," said one employee, who has a wife and children and who received an eviction notice because he is behind on rent. "What the heck am I doing here? I'd rather be suffering in my own town," he said.

Nicole Baldocchi
Nicole Baldocchi is the assistant online editor at the Hollister Free Lance. Contact her at (408) 847-7139 or send her an email.