Popular California Restauranteur Fined $71K for Failing to Pay Overtime

A popular Sonoma County chef denied three workers at its Healdsburg, California establishment of more than $35,000 in overtime wages, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Investigators in the department’s Wage and Hour Division say chef Octavio 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 reportedly 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.

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.