Four Washington restaurants ordered to pay $750,000 in wage violations

Workers at four Washington-based restaurants won a federal consent judgment that will send $750,000 in back wages and damages to 42 employees, a recovery that works out to about $17,857 per worker on average. The case came out of Spokane and puts a hard price on the payroll shortcuts that can build up fast in restaurants when hours are long and records are sloppy.

The Labor Department said Nolberto and Guillermina Rodríguez, who own Blanco Inc. and Mi Rancho Chico Inc., operated Rancho Chico locations in Spokane, Colville and Omak and failed to pay overtime at time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek. Investigators also found that some nonexempt employees were paid on a salaried basis for all hours worked, which pushed their earnings below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

The agency said the case also involved unlawful retaliation after the restaurant terminated an employee who filed a wage complaint. Investigators found child labor violations as well, including minors operating hazardous equipment, which widens the case beyond a simple overtime mistake and shows how wage-and-hour problems often travel with other breakdowns in restaurant management.

Under the court order, Rancho Chico and the Rodríguez family must pay the full amount and follow federal labor law going forward, including paying workers for all hours worked, keeping accurate records and not retaliating against employees who assert their rights. For restaurant crews, the case is a reminder that back-of-house schedules, tipped positions, credit-card transactions and other routine pieces of service work can all trigger federal wage protections, and that a bad pay practice can turn into a six-figure liability once investigators start comparing time clocks, pay stubs and job duties.