California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office filed a lawsuit against a gig-economy car wash company in Southern California for violating labor laws by misclassifying employees as independent contractors.
The suit alleges Mobile Wash Inc. in Bellflower, California, misclassified at least 100 workers. It also names Mobile Wash’s president and CEO, Alfred Davtyan.
This is the first lawsuit filed by the Labor Commissioner’s Office to enforce AB 5, the 2019 law that makes independent contractor classification more difficult.
Mobile Wash uses a phone app to offer car washing and detailing services to customers throughout Southern California and a few locations in Northern California. The Labor Commissioner’s Office said the company requires its workers to use their own cars and buy their own uniforms, insurance, cleaning equipment, supplies and gas. It also alleges Mobile Wash does not reimburse the workers for these business expenses or travel time, in violation of the requirement to pay for all hours worked at no less than the minimum wage. It also unlawfully charges workers a $2 “transaction fee” for every tip left on a credit card.
An analysis by the Labor Commissioner’s Office found that a Mobile Wash employee working for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week is entitled to $1,521 per week for unpaid wages including minimum wage and overtime violation, liquidated damages, rest period violations, reimbursements of business expenses and recovery of stolen tips, and other violations including but not limited to failure to provide paid sick leave.