Santa Clara County is suing five mobile phone shops over accusations they violated workers' rights and failed to pay them.
The county said this marks the first of many lawsuits coming down against employers breaking the law.
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WATCH HEREIn this instance, the county filed a civil lawsuit against six different men, saying each is cheating their employees.
"They are stealing wages out of the pockets of folks who are struggling to get by in an unforgiving economy," County Counsel Tony LoPresti said.
LoPresti said the group of men own and operate five separate Metro by T-Mobile stores in the South Bay. Those franchise stores are located in East San Jose and Milpitas.
"Our investigation revealed that these businesses are exploiting workers, including teen workers as young as 14 years of age," LoPresti said. "They pay workers less than minimum wage. They require long shifts without paying overtime."
The county said the men are profiting from those violations, and also claim the defendants don’t give workers pay stubs as required by law so employees can see if they’re being underpaid.
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"They often fail to pay workers on payday, and when they do pay, they pay in cash under the table without paying taxes," LoPresti said.
NBC Bay Area went to two of the stores on Thursday. One employee said they were surprised by the allegations. We asked them to pass along contact information to the owners in hopes of getting a response, but we didn't immediately receive one.
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SIGN UP On Friday, a T-Mobile spokesperson provided the following statement to NBC Bay Area:
"Metro by T-Mobile stores are independently owned and operated by third-party retailers. We require every retailer to comply with all laws, especially when it comes to employment practices. We take these concerns seriously and are looking into them."
The county's lawsuit demands the defendants pay their employees back wages and other damages, stop violating the law, and pay civil penalties as well.
County leaders said this is the first lawsuit brought under their workers’ rights initiative. That initiative uses local governments' legal powers to protect employees from exploitation.
