SOL Region I MapATLANTA REGION (Region IV)PHILADELPHIA REGION (Region III)NEW YORK REGION (Region II)BOSTON REGION (Region I)CHICAGO REGION (Region V)DALLAS REGION (Region VI)SAN FRANCISCO REGION (Region IX)

The San Francisco Regional Solicitor's Office (SF RSOL) litigates and provides legal support for the U.S. Department of Labor for civil matters arising in the following states and territories:

  • Alaska
  • America Samoa
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
  • Guam
  • Hawaii
  • Nevada
  • Idaho
  • Oregon
  • Utah (EBSA matters only)
  • Washington

The San Francisco Regional Solicitor's Office is comprised of approximately 42 staff across offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle.


Branch Offices

  • Los Angeles, California
  • Seattle, Washington

What We Do

The San Francisco Regional Solicitor's Office:

  • Prosecutes litigation in U.S. District Courts and federal administrative courts;
  • Supports and assists various DOL enforcement agencies with development of strategic enforcement cases; and
  • Prepares legal interpretations and opinions.

SF RSOL attorneys litigate cases and advise client agencies in actions enforcing workplace protections for workers who have experienced wage theft, retaliation, unsafe workplaces, and other illegal employment practices. Client agencies include the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). SF RSOL also represents the DOL in internal labor relations matters. Nearly half of the Region’s work arises from WHD investigations.

Many of our cases involve vulnerable workers, such as immigrants, workers on H-2A and H-2B visas, and employees misclassified as independent contractors. Reflecting the diversity of our Region, we litigate cases in a variety of industries including construction, logistics, food service, agriculture, home care, and mining.


Major Accomplishments

Protecting Workers and Trafficking Victims in Saipan and Recovering over $20,000,000 since 2017

Since 2017, SF RSOL has recovered over $20 million in back wages, liquidated damages, and civil money penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and H-2B regulations by Imperial Pacific International Holdings (IPI), Ltd, a Hong Kong entity. IPI brought thousands of workers, including hundreds of trafficking victims, to Saipan from various parts of the world to build a casino. After discovering IPI had stopped paying and providing electricity, food and water to employee housing, SF RSOL obtained humanitarian and monetary relief through negotiations and a 2019 consent judgment.

When IPI missed more than $2,000,000 in payroll and stopped providing basic necessities to workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, SF RSOL sought to hold IPI in contempt of the 2019 Consent Judgment. On January 21, 2021, a federal district court held IPI in contempt, issued a stop work order, ordered IPI to remedy the humanitarian conditions, and granted RSOL’s request to appoint a receiver who would sell IPI’s real property if it continued to default on its payments.

Safeguarding Employee Health Insurance Benefits and Resolving Over $70 Million in Unpaid Health Claims

SF RSOL obtained a consent judgment appointing a Receiver and enjoining “all hospitals, physicians, pharmacists, and other health care providers” from seeking to collect against any patient covered by the Riverstone Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA). The Riverstone MEWA was an underfunded “private exchange” that violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and jeopardized the health insurance claims of tens of thousands of patients it covered. A federal district court granted injunctive relief to the MEWA’s patients and appointed a receiver that has resolved over $70 million of Riverstone’s unpaid health claims. SF RSOL continues to work with the Receiver to resolve the remaining unpaid health claims of the plan.

Partnering with Community Groups to Combat Unlawful Payroll Schemes and Worker Intimidation

SF RSOL recovered $3.68 million in back wages, liquidated damages, interest and penalties from Unforgettable Coatings, Inc., a painting company operating in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. The employer deprived employees of overtime and also intimidated workers who questioned the company’s pay practices by, among other things, threatening immigration consequences, reducing all workers’ wages by 30 percent, and cutting employees’ hours if the employer believed that the worker cooperated with the investigation. The Department’s investigation included cooperation with the local district council of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and ARRIBA Las Vegas Workers Center, both of which provided useful information about workers and employment conditions.

Enforcing Safety and Health Standards to Protect Construction Workers from Excavation Hazards

SF RSOL prevailed on behalf of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a trial against a military contractor that endangered construction workers at a Camp Pendleton, CA jobsite. Reyes Construction, Inc. exposed workers to potential death and serious injury when it required them to work inside an 8-foot-deep excavation that lacked adequate protection to prevent a cave-in. One side of the trench was completely unguarded and another had several feet of exposed soil. Reyes’ supervisors knew of these hazards and failed to remove workers from the trench. The administrative law judge affirmed four serious citation items as written by OSHA.

Combatting Retaliation in the Mining Industry, Securing over $94,000 in Damages and Enhancing Future Compliance

SF RSOL recovered over $9,000 in back pay and $85,400 in front pay from Swaggart Brothers, Inc. to compensate a miner who was fired after she reported violations of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act to her supervisor. After SF RSOL attorneys exposed Swaggart Brothers’ attempts to intimidate miners from speaking to MSHA and testifying truthfully at the upcoming trial, it agreed to broad enhanced compliance and injunctive terms that bolster future enforcement and paid $94,400 in damages to the complainant.

Ensuring Construction Workers are Paid Overtime

SF RSOL recovered $2.95 million in a global settlement of FLSA, Davis Bacon Act, and H-2B enforcement actions against Valley Wide Plastering, Inc., an Arizona construction company. The employer did not pay overtime to piece rate construction workers and tampered with and fabricated time records to hide actual hours worked. The employer also underpaid H-2B visa holders and workers fulfilling a government contract. As part of the settlement, the employer agreed to use a mobile timekeeping application to track hours worked, provide a notice of rights to employees, and be subject to an injunction that requires them to accurately record employees’ hours. The employer also agreed to be barred from participating in the H-2B program and from federal contracts for two years.

Taking Immediate Action to Protect Agricultural Workers on H-2A Visas and Ensure They Get Paid Their Lawful Wage

SF RSOL recovered $181,683 in back wages and $110,000 in civil money penalties for violations of the H-2A program by two agricultural companies, VH Harvesting, LLC and T & K Feeds, Inc. The agricultural companies required the temporary guest workers to perform interstate trucking using unsafe semi-trucks for up to 16 hours a day and threatened workers who complained with immigration consequences. Within weeks of obtaining a federal court temporary restraining order, SF RSOL obtained consent judgments requiring Defendants to pay full back wages owed to workers and civil money penalties and debarring Defendants from using the H-2A & H-2B programs to hire temporary workers. Several of the workers still in the United States received checks totaling thousands of dollars before returning to their home country.

Working with a Community Partner to Enforce Judgment for Care Home Workers

In collaboration with Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, SF RSOL enforced a contempt action against Elizabeth Palad and Razel Cortez, who owned six care home facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, for defying a court order mandating the payment of back wages and liquidated damages to caregivers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Despite the court order, the owners continued to violate the FLSA by requiring caregivers to work twenty-four hours a day, for five to seven days a week, at rates below federal minimum wage and without overtime premiums. SF RSOL recovered $376,000 for workers and required the employers’ practices to be monitored by an independent worker rights organization to prevent further violations.

Fighting for 1,300 Auto Parts Delivery Drivers Misclassified Independent Contractors

SF RSOL resolved an almost six-year-long civil action against Defendants Arizona Logistics, Inc. (operating as Diligent Delivery Systems), its owner Larry Browne, and Parts Authority Arizona, LLC through obtaining a $5.75 million Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction. Under the resolution, Defendants owe $5,600,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to their misclassified delivery drivers, and $150,000 in civil money penalties.

The drivers covered by the lawsuit were subject to mandatory arbitration clauses. During the litigation, SOL successfully defeated Mr. Browne’s motion to compel the Secretary to arbitration. In 2021, the Ninth Circuit held that, under the Supreme Court’s holding in EEOC v. Waffle House, Inc., 534 U.S. 279 (2002), the Secretary could not be compelled to arbitration, even if employees were parties to an arbitration agreement.

Examples of Relief Obtained for Workers

EmployerDescriptionStateYear
Freig Carillo Forwarding, Inc.; Javier Martin Freig Carillo$972,000 for warehouse employeesCA, AZ2023
A. Oseguera, Company, Inc.; Antonio Oseguera; Hilda Oseguera$1.4 million for agricultural workersCA2023
Active Life Apparel, Inc.; Ana Loyola Salina$185,000 for garment workersCA2023
Unforgettable Coatings, Inc.; Cory Summerhays; Shaun McMurray; Shane Sandall$3.687 million for painting company workers and for civil money penaltiesNV2023
Palo Verde Plastering, Inc.$725,000 for plastering workers and for civil money penaltiesAZ2023
Valley Wide Plastering Construction, Inc.; Jesse Guerrero; Rose Guerrero; J.R. Guerrero$2.95 million for plastering contractor employees and for civil money penaltiesAZ2022
Diligent Delivery Systems (Arizona Logistics, Inc.); Parts Authority (Parts Authority Arizona LLC); Larry Browne$5.75 million for delivery drivers and for civil money penaltiesAZ2022
Mesa Air Group, Inc.Airline ordered to change policy of failing to include all hours worked when calculating employee eligibility for time off under the Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA).AZ2022
VH Harvesting, LLC; T&K Feeds, Inc.$314,094 for H-2A agricultural workers for prevailing wage violations and other wage violations and for civil money penaltiesAZ2022
Atlas Freight Forwarding, Inc.; Coordinadora de Servicios Aduanales Atlas, S.C.; Manuel Ignacio Garcia Rios$111,584 for warehouse workers and $10,790 in civil money penaltiesCA2022
Columbia Export Group, PDSA, S.C. (A.G.A. Investments II, Inc.); Arturo Ruffo$950,635 for warehouse workers and for civil money penaltiesCA2022
OMG Freight Forwarders LLC; OMG Global Logistics; Oscar Mayer$833,001 for warehouse workers and for civil money penaltiesCA, AZ2022
Premar Global Warehouse Logistics; Thomas Martinez Leal; Export Dynamics de Mexico, S.C.$235,000 for warehouse workers and for civil money penaltiesCA2022
Vidal Import and Export, Inc.; Rene Vidal; Martha Vidal$375,021 for warehouse workers and for civil money penaltiesCA, AZ2022
Power House Plastering, Inc.; Danny Gunsallus$443,322 for construction workers and $63,677 in civil money penaltiesNV2022
Desert Plastering, LLC; Vision Drywall and Paint, LLC; Javier Rodriguez; Manuel Rodriguez$1,594,987 for drywallers and $93,235 in civil money penaltiesNV2022
King Graphics (Colmol, Inc.); Sean P. Mundy$269,915 for garment employees, plus civil money penaltiesCA2022
Bonchon (Lin and Fei, LLC); Xiaolin Zhan$182,000 for restaurant workers for unpaid overtime wages and for civil money penaltiesWA2022
Neldy’s Adult Residential Care Home (Neldy’s RC Inc.)$690,000 for home care workers and $25,000 in civil money penaltiesCA2022
Reliable Delivery Service$72,614 for employees of equipment and towing company, plus civil money penaltiesCA2022
Northern Stone Supply, Inc.$983,725 for workers and $50,000 in civil money penaltiesID2022
A & S Sewing Premium, Inc.; Beatriz Becerra$219,957 for garment workers and for civil money penaltiesCA2022
Artificial Grass Masters, LLP; Joshua Apodaca$200,000 for driver, installation, and repair employees and for civil money penalties.AZ2022
Acme Pumping Services, Inc.$200,000 for employees of waste removal company and for civil money penalties.HI2022
Orange Coating and Sandblasting$300,000 for workers, plus civil money penaltiesCA2022
KP Poultry, Inc.; Kevin Truong; Aiwa Tang-Ton$511,000 for employees of poultry processing companies and $20,000 in civil money penaltiesCA2021
Sura Hawaii I (Wonjin Corp.); Sura Hawaii II (Aina Restaurant, Inc.); Thank Q Pocha (Gimog Restaurant, Inc.); Sujin Tomita$220,000 for restaurant employees and $10,000 in civil money penaltiesHI2021
Global One Logistics, Inc., Yarik Vertheim, and Arik Vertheim,$120,000 for warehouse employeesCA2021
T-Force Final Mile West, LLC (f.k.a. Dynamex West); On Courier 365, LLC$1,195,000 for delivery drivers classified as independent contractors and for civil money penaltiesCA2020
Wellfleet Communications, LLC$1.4 million for call center workers classified as independent contractorsNV2020
Imperial Pacific International Holdings, LTD. and Imperial Pacific International, LLC$3.3 million for casino construction workersN. Mariana Islands2019
Recodo Lane Home and Quintana Home (Nuzon Corp.); Margaret’s Home and Robin Dale Home (Margaret’s Villa, Inc.); Fyl-Lyd Investments, LLC; Juanjo Investments, LLC$1.1 million for adult care home employeesCA2019
Austin Electric Services, LLC$925,000 for electrical construction workersAZ2019
Argo Cargo, LLC; Jose Carlos Gomez d/b/a Union Harvest; Christian Gomez Bueno$75,000 for agricultural workers and for civil money penaltiesAZ2019
Hoa Salon, Roosevelt, Inc. and Hoa Salon Ballard, Inc.$50,000 for nail salon and spa workersWA2019
Ginger Green, Inc.$357,994 for garment workersCA2019
El Tapatio Mexican Cuisine (Guitron Alcazar III, Inc.)$23,151 for restaurant workersCA2019
Brea Car Wash & Detail Center (Southwest Fuel Management, LLC)$3.8 million for car wash employeesCA2018
Alternative Senior Care, LLC, La Bella Holdings, LLC, RG Holdings, LLC, Advocate Care Placement, LLC$200,000 for employees of residential care homes for the elderlyCA2018
Employer Solutions Staffing Group, LLC, Countrywide Payroll & HR Solutions, Inc., and TBG Logistics, LLC$394,439 for warehouse employeesCA2018
Bulletproof Securities, Inc.$79,000 for security guardsAZ2018
TLC Residential, Inc.$2.3 million for employees of sober living homesCA2018
Health Center, Inc.$59,071 for call center employees classified as independent contractorsNV2018
Sunshine Motel Inn, LLC$90,000 for motel employees classified as independent contractorsWA2017
Colima’s Carniceria y Taqueria$100,000 for restaurant workersCA2017
West Coast Drywall & Co., Inc.$940,000 for employees of drywall installers and paintersCA2017
BH Drywall, Inc.$447,365 for plastering contractor employeesAZ2017
Midas (C&C Verde LLC, C&C Oracle, LLC; C&C 22cd, LLC; C&C 6th, LLC; C&C INA, LLC; C&C Valencia, LLC)$35,000 for automotive repair shop employeesAZ2017
Kazu Construction, LLC$200,000 for construction workersHI2017
Mission Grill (SJCMG Inc.)$45,400 for restaurant employees 2017
Somasoft Solutions, Inc.$98,334 for sales and recruitment employees misclassified as independent contractorsCA2017
I2a Technologies, Inc.$410,647 for employees of computer parts manufacturer.CA2016
Stanford Yellow Taxi Cab, Inc.; AAA Legacy Limousine, Inc.$175,000 for employee drivers misclassified as independent contractorsCA2016
Walnut Creek Willows (Razel & Ruztin, LLC); Elizabeth Care Home; Samantha Care Home, New Haven Court (CADS, LLC); Rayzel’s Villa (I Care Ventures, LLC)$643,991 for adult care home employeesCA2016
Guardian Roofing, LLC$210,000 for employees of roofing contractorWA2016
Poetry Corporation$150,000 for garment workersCA2016
J&L Metal Polishing, Inc.; JC Coating Solutions, Inc.$433,522 for employees of metal and polishing companyCA2016
Moa Moa, Inc.; Drifter Industries, Inc.; and Newport Apparel Corp.$19,844 for garment workersCA2016
San Miguel Homes for the Elderly, LLC$425,000 for care home employeesCA2016
J&J Mongolian Grill Spa (Pacific Coast Foods, Inc.) and Spa Therapy (J&J Comfort Zone, Inc.)$1.3 million for restaurant and spa workersWA2015
Acme Universal, Inc.$390,180 for construction workersGuam2015
National Consolidated Couriers, Inc., Ironstone NCCI Logistics$5 million for delivery drivers misclassified as independent contractorsCA2015
Colmenero’s Pallets, Inc.$278,308 for employees of pallet manufacturerAZ2015
Leo’s Recycling, Inc.$90,000 for employees of recycling businessCA2015
DirectTV LLC and Advanced Information Systems (Lantern Light Corp.)$395,000 for television installersWA2015
Shippers Transport Express, Inc.$188,587 for delivery drivers misclassified as independent contractorsCA2014
Lake Alhambra Assisted Living Center (Fatima/Zahra, Inc.)$305,000 assisted living home employeesCA2014
Bottomley Evergreens and Farms, Inc.$229,178 for employees of wreath-making companyOR2014
Seafood Peddler of San Rafael, Inc.$185,749 for restaurant employeesCA2014
Blue Wave Tours, Inc.$40,000 for awarded for tour company employeesHI2014
Oxnard Manor Healthcare Center (Oxnard Manor LP)$45,000 for nursing home employeesCA2014
Floran White Dove Care Home; Floran Care Home II$40,120 for care home employeesCA2014
Valley Recycling, Recycling Innovation (Alkanan, Inc.)$74,000 for recycling company employeesCA2014
Ocampo Gacilian Home, Inc.; Country Elegance, Inc.; Bilby Home, Inc.$44,669 for residential care facility employeesCA2014

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AGENCIES SUPPORTED:

CONTACT THE REGIONAL SOLICITOR'S OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN REGION

Region IX. SAN FRANCISCO
90 7th Street, Suite 3-700
San Francisco, CA 94103-1516
(415) 625-7740
(415) 625-7772 (fax)
REGIONAL SOLICITORMarc A. Pilotin
ASSOCIATE REGIONAL SOLICITORDavid M. Kahn
Counsel for ERISALaura Bremer
Counsel for Labor Relations and EthicsDavid M. Kahn
Counsel for Wage and HourAndrew Schultz
Counsel for Civil RightsJessica M. Flores

Los Angeles
312 N. Spring Street, Room 720
Los Angeles, CA 90012-4701
(213) 894-4980
(213) 894-2064 (fax)
DEPUTY REGIONAL SOLICITORDaniel J. Chasek
Counsel for Wage and HourBoris Orlov
Management AnalystLaura Matus
Seattle
909 First Avenue, Suite 230
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 757-6762
(206) 757-6761 (fax)
ASSOCIATE REGIONAL SOLICITORKatherine E. Cameron
Counsel for Wage and HourKatherine E. Cameron
Counsel for Safety and HealthJoshua P. Falk
Management AnalystClaire Barba