Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement that will resolve a lawsuit and will recover back wages for some 250 former employees of Wins of California, a San Francisco garment company.

The agreement, which must be formally approved by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, is an important milestone in the18-month effort by the Labor Department that began with an investigation into complaints that Wins employees who assembled clothing were not paid proper wages.

"This is a tremendous victory for these workers who came forward and reported the illegal treatment they suffered, and who continued their battle for their rightful wages over the many months since," said U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. "This agreement not only provides these workers with their wages, but also has far-reaching impact for thousands of other workers in the future by restricting financing options available to unscrupulous garment manufacturers."

Under the terms of the agreement among the federal Labor Department, the Wins bankruptcy trustee and GE Capital Commercial Services, Inc., the department will distribute to workers $337,000 of the $422,000 in back wages already collected and held in a court-supervised "lock box." In addition, the department has entered into discussions with GE Capital, a Wins creditor and a major source of financing for businesses, to obtain GE's commitment that in the future the company will only provide financing to those garment manufacturers who agree to ongoing monitoring of their pay practices.

The U.S. Labor Department will continue efforts to bring Wins owners Anna Wong and Jimmy Quan to justice. "With the back wage issue settled, we will intensify our efforts to bring to justice those responsible, and to prevent similar situations in the future," Chao said.

According to Chao, the department will assess additional penalties and will pursue the personal assets of Wong and Quan. In October the Labor Department assessed $337, 000 in civil money penalties against the company, Quan, Wong and Wins Fashions, another company owned by them.

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