Immigrant Car Wash Workers In Union Co. Win $1M Lawsuit Against Wage Theft

UNION COUNTY, NJ — After a two-and-a-half-year lawsuit battle against Caribbean Car Wash in Elizabeth, 24 workers will receive settlement checks on Thursday as part of a million-dollar settlement for unpaid wages.

The immigrant workers filed a lawsuit back in 2019 for unpaid overtime compensation and violation of the minimum wage laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law. This case was one of the first brought under the newly expanded wage theft law in New Jersey.

Some of the workers, or "carwasheros" as they are commonly known, worked six or seven days a week — typically 11 hours each day — for less than $5 an hour, according to a release. Currently, the minimum wage in NJ is $13 an hour and will increase by $1 each year, until it reaches $15 in 2024.

Under the settlement, many of the workers will receive over $40,000, with some getting over $50,000 — according to Steven Arenson of Arenson, Dittmar & Karban, the attorneys representing car wash workers.

Usually, the average award in a wage theft settlement is less than $6,000 for the plaintiff, said Samuel Estreicher — a professor at NYU Law School and director of the school’s Center for Labor and Employment Law.

In August 2019, shortly before the lawsuit was filed, New Jersey amended its Wage and Hour Law to toughen the penalties imposed on employers who commit wage theft, as well as allow workers to recover unpaid wages going back six years. This lengthened the two-year claim period under the old law.

Some of the workers receiving checks Thursday stopped working for the car wash more than two years before the filing of the lawsuit and would not have been able to recover wages if it wasn't for the updated law.

“The exploitation of immigrant workers in the car wash industry is widespread," Arenson said. "This case demonstrates the impact of the 2019 amendment on the rights of workers subjected to wage theft. With the passage of the amendment in August 2019, New Jersey has entered the top tier of states affording the strongest protections to workers cheated out of lawful wages."

Arenson's firm has recovered millions of dollars for numerous other car wash workers in New York and New Jersey.

According to the release, the majority of these car wash workers are immigrants — often from the Dominican Republic, Central America and West Africa — and many are undocumented, which makes them especially vulnerable to exploitation.

A number of the workers in this Caribbean Car Wash case — including those receiving over $50,000 each — are undocumented, and Arenson said that the law is designed to protect them.

“Unfortunately, many workers don’t know their rights and are afraid of being fired if they speak up,” Arenson said. “The law protects workers who have been paid illegally, regardless of their immigration status, and New Jersey’s amended law is designed to protect precisely the kind of low-wage, vulnerable workforce exploited in this case."

A press conference will be held at 12 p.m. on Thursday at the offices of Arenson, Dittmar & Karban, located in The Met Life Building — 200 Park Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10166 — and virtually via Zoom.

Many of the car wash workers will be present and available to speak.