FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
George Warner
415-593-0065
gwarner@legalaidatwork.org
San Francisco (October 16, 2024) – Today, Legal Aid at Work, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights of low-wage workers, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Martin Ceja Flores, a janitor who cleaned the San Jose headquarters of Molecular Devices, LLC six days a week for the last 13 years while making less than the minimum wage. Molecular Devices is a wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR), a Fortune 200 company. Mr. Ceja Flores worked well over 40 hours a week but was paid less than $2,000 a month. His hourly wage was less than $11 an hour, far less than the minimum wage of $17.55 an hour now required in San Jose. Mr. Ceja was never provided overtime compensation, even though he worked more than 8 hours on some days, and more than 40 hours a week.
In March, Mr. Ceja Flores had to take a month off because he needed to get surgery for an eye condition. When he tried to return a month later, he was told that there was no longer work for him.
Although Mr. Ceja Flores worked in Molecular Devices’s headquarters for 13 years, he was not on Molecular Device’s payroll. Molecular Devices had contracted out its regular janitorial duties to a company called Crystal Janitorial Service, Inc., and Mr. Ceja Flores would wear a Crystal Janitorial shirt while cleaning the Molecular Devices headquarters. Crystal Janitorial, in turn, subcontracted with Steffanonis Janitorial, a janitorial subcontractor run by Enrique Sanchez and Leticia Steffanoni. Multi-level contracting relationships are rampant in the janitorial industry, and they are a main way that companies try to avoid culpability when low-wage workers working within their business are denied basic rights on the job.
Mr. Ceja Flores is suing Molecular Devices, along with Crystal Janitorial, Enrique Sanchez and Leticia Steffanoni. The Complaint alleges that the companies failed to pay Mr. Ceja Flores minimum wages, premium overtime pay, sick leave, and other premiums and expense reimbursements, failed to provide him adequate rest and meal periods, and failed to reinstate him after he took leave, violating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
“I spent 13 years of my life cleaning the Molecular Devices building and representing Crystal Janitorial. I really trusted the people I worked with, and I thought that they were complying with the law,” said Mr. Ceja Flores. “I deserved job protection when I had to time off to recover from surgery. But, instead, I was laid off. It hurts to know that I was taken advantage of by people that I should have been able to trust. I hope other workers are more wary, and ensure their rights are not being violated. Everybody deserves fair pay for their work.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages, penalties, and other relief for Mr. Ceja Flores, as well as an end to the defendants’ unfair and unlawful business practices.
“Wage theft is unacceptable, and it’s especially egregious when it happens within sophisticated, well-capitalized corporations like Molecular Devices and those it contracts with,” said George Warner, staff attorney in the Wage Protection Program at Legal Aid at Work. “We’re committed to fighting for workers like Mr. Ceja Flores and holding employers accountable for unfair and illegal practices that are harming low-wage workers within their businesses.”
Wage theft is a pervasive problem in the janitorial industry. As highlighted by the UCLA Labor Center policy brief, “A 2010 survey of low-wage workers in Los Angeles found that 30% of janitors had experienced minimum wage violations, 80% reported not being paid overtime as required by law, and 79% were not paid their full wage rate for all time worked.”
Santa Clara County is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. Yet 30 percent of households in Santa Clara County can’t afford basic needs without government or nonprofit aid. And the situation is only getting worse: the percentage of workers paid below minimum wage in the San Jose Metro Area nearly tripled from 2013 to 2023.
Legal Aid at Work encourages any workers who may be experiencing wage theft or other labor law violations to contact the organization for assistance.
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About Legal Aid at Work:
Legal Aid at Work partners with people to help them understand and assert their workplace rights. We also advocate for employment laws and systems that empower low-paid workers and marginalized communities. legalaidatwork.org