(WNY News Now) Attorney General Letitia James enforces accountability for labor crimes during the pandemic and recovers stolen earnings for more than 250 workers at CleanTech.
NEW YORK Attorney General Letitia James of New York said today that she has recovered about $1.13 million in salaries that were taken from employees of CleanTech, a professional maintenance business that cleaned Rikers Island buildings during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread labor breaches, such as illegal kickbacks, failure to provide paid sick leave, wage theft, and retaliation against employees who complained, were discovered during an Office of the Attorney General (OAG) inquiry. CleanTech will reimburse around 250 affected employees $1,029,175 as a result of OAG’s inquiry.
Attorney General James stated that all employees should be paid fairly and treated with respect and decency. At the height of the pandemic, CleanTech denied its employees fair compensation, failed to offer paid sick leave, and hired crew leaders who discriminated against workers who voiced concerns and embezzled their hard-earned money by requiring them to pay bribes in order to maintain their positions. I’m honored to give these wages back to the New Yorkers who earned them, and my office will continue to hold businesses responsible for exploiting workers who are at risk.
CleanTech’s Rikers were threatened, forced, retaliated against, had their salaries stolen, and were not granted paid sick leave. According to New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, COVID-19 workers put their health at risk in order to sanitize the places where thousands of people were held in cramped confines. In order to assure future compliance, our office will offer CleanTech training on prevailing wage law as part of this settlement, which I applaud the Attorney General for reaching. Respecting labor laws cannot be compromised.
For the 250 workers whose salaries were stolen and who suffered reprisals for reporting the crimes, Attorney General James’ settlement is a major win, according to Alice Davis, Deputy Director of Catholic Migration Services. We applaud the complainants for coming forward with their claims in spite of intense pressure and intimidation from their previous employer, as well as the Attorney General’s office for speaking up against wage theft and other workplace violations. The significance of speaking out against exploitation is highlighted by this case.
In 2022, Catholic Migration Services complained to the OAG about an unlawful kickback policy, which prompted the OAG to launch an investigation into CleanTech. According to the OAG, CleanTech falsely claimed to have paid its employees overtime, prevailing wages, and additional benefits for their work on a public contract at Rikers Island between September and December 2021. In actuality, the corporation engaged crew leaders who forced employees to pay bribes, or return a portion of their salary, in order to retain their positions, paid workers less than the legally allowed rates, and neglected to give paid sick leave. Additionally, those crew chiefs fired workers in retaliation for speaking out or complaining about the abuse.
One employee informed OAG that she was expected to kick back $120 of her weekly salary of $720 on a regular basis and $240 of her roughly $1,000 payment when she worked overtime. The employee revealed that her crew boss would often threaten to fire her if she didn’t pay the kickback, saying, “You don’t have work if you don’t [kickback] the money.” Another employee revealed that one of the crew chiefs told him, “You’re getting more hours and more money, you need to return more to me,” after he put in more hours than normal and was paid more as a result. According to both employees, the crew leaders would frequently stress the significance of the kickbacks and would stop by while they were working to urge them to pay the money they allegedly owed or risk being fired. During 13 of the 16 weeks of the cleaning contract, kickbacks took place.
The two crew chiefs who were getting kickbacks lost their management positions as a result of OAG’s inquiry, and one is no longer with CleanTech. Going forward, mandatory trainings will be required for all CleanTech crew chiefs. OAG will receive $1,129,175 from CleanTech, which includes $100,000 to cover the cost of restitution distribution and settlement administration. Restitution will be paid to impacted workers through a claims procedure supervised by the settlement administrator, with any money not utilized for settlement administration going toward this purpose. In addition, CleanTech has committed to enacting extensive improvements, such as providing management and subcontractors with training in both Spanish and English conducted by the Office of the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law for all employees engaged in prevailing wage contracts. Additionally, CleanTech must inform staff members in both languages of their rights and provide periodic reports to OAG regarding its compliance for a period of three years.
Attorney General James urges New Yorkers who suspect wage theft or other labor crimes to get in touch with OAG by calling (212) 416-8700 or submitting a private online report.
Fighting wage theft has been a top goal for Attorney General James, particularly in sectors that employ low-paid workers. Attorney General James retrieved $4 million in unpaid tips for former Drizly alcohol delivery employees in December 2024. Attorney General James returned $750,000 in misappropriated earnings to Best Wireless employees in September 2024. Attorney General James obtained around $230,000 in April 2024 for building workers who had been defrauded of their rightful compensation. Attorney General James obtained $328 million in November 2023 for drivers who had been underpaid for years by Uber and Lyft. Attorney General James recovered $300,000 in unpaid pay for employees of nail salons in New York City in August 2023. Attorney General James recovered $24,000 in misappropriated pay for former worker cooperative employees in March 2023. Attorney General James recovered $90,000 in unpaid and pilfered pay for over a dozen former workers at a Queens commercial dry cleaner in October 2022.
Under the guidance of Labor Bureau Deputy Bureau Chief Young Lee and Bureau Chief Karen Cacace, Assistant Attorney General Abigail Ramos handled this case with help from Legal Support Analyst Kenny Ip. First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy is in charge of the Division for Social Justice, which includes the Labor Bureau. Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux leads this division.