From bob.estabrook at state.or.us Wed May 11 08:13:10 2011 From: bob.estabrook at state.or.us (Bob Estabrook) Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 08:13:10 -0700 Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Avakian Complaint Investigation Finds Substantial Evidence Message-ID: <4DCA4515.919A.00CA.0@boli.state.or.us> Press Release For Immediate Distribution May 11, 2011 CONTACT: Bob Estabrook, 503-709-0730 Evidence of Discrimination Found in Avakian Complaint Investigation Civil Rights Division finds substantial evidence of violations by Typhoon against Thai workers PORTLAND ? The Civil Rights Division of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has concluded its investigation into alleged civil rights violations by Typhoon!, Inc., and found substantial evidence that the restaurant chain engaged in unlawful discrimination against its Thai employees based on their national origin. Pursuing a complaint filed by State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian last fall, investigators found evidence that Typhoon used its leverage over workers recruited from Thailand to impose lower pay, longer hours, unfavorable contract terms, and hostile working conditions that were not faced by non-Thai employees. ?Typhoon could have chosen to follow the law and provide equal pay for equal work,? Avakian said. ?Instead, the company trapped Thai workers into employment they were afraid to leave and turned that fear into a business advantage.? Investigators found multiple witnesses ? including employees hired by Typhoon from both the United States and Thailand ? who described the company subjecting Thai workers to different treatment in the workplace. Unlike their American counterparts, Thai workers were: ? Intimidated into signing employment agreements that required thousands of dollars be paid to Typhoon within one day if the employee was terminated and attempted to strip employees of the right to seek legal redress in a court of law or administrative agency. ? Relocated between restaurants in different cities with minimal or no notice and not provided housing as their visa agreements required: as of November 2010, a total of 18 Thai workers resided in two apartments and one single family residence. ? Pressured to work extra hours without compensation, often working between shifts or carving vegetables at home after their shifts had ended. Investigation of payroll records showed that among both salaried cooks and cooks paid hourly wages, Thai citizens working at Typhoon under E-2 visas were paid less than U.S. citizen cooks. With the Civil Rights Division?s finding of substantial evidence, the case will advance to BOLI?s Hearings Unit for issuance of formal charges for discrimination in compensation, terms of employment and conditions of employment. At the same time, BOLI?s Wage and Hour Division is investigating two claims for unpaid overtime wages filed by former Typhoon employees. For more information about BOLI, visit http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI. ###### The mission of the Bureau of Labor and Industries is to protect employment rights, advance employment opportunities, and protect access to housing and public accommodations free from discrimination. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpg Size: 7303 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 05.11.11 BOLI Release - Typhoon Determination.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 62973 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bob.estabrook at state.or.us Thu May 12 15:54:25 2011 From: bob.estabrook at state.or.us (Bob Estabrook) Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 15:54:25 -0700 Subject: Fair Housing Letter from Commissioner Avakian Message-ID: <20110512T155425Z_C58F00160000@boli.state.or.us> Colleagues- Please see attached letter from Commissioner Avakian, regarding fair housing enforcement. Feel free to contact me with any questions: 503-709-0730. Best, Bob Bob Estabrook Office of the Commissioner Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AvakianFair HousingLetter05.12.11.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 620610 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bob.estabrook at state.or.us Mon May 23 11:04:58 2011 From: bob.estabrook at state.or.us (Bob Estabrook) Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 11:04:58 -0700 Subject: NEWS RELEASE - Avakian Passes Legislation to Protect Oregon Workers from NSF Paychecks Message-ID: <4DDA3F5A.919A.00CA.0@boli.state.or.us> Press Release For Immediate Distribution May 23, 2011 CONTACT: Bob Estabrook, 503-709-0730 Avakian Passes Legislation to Protect Workers from NSF Paychecks Legislature endorses bill to help workers get the wages they?re owed SALEM ? The Oregon State Senate today gave final approval to House Bill 2039A, State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian?s legislation to protect workers from paychecks that bounce due to non-sufficient funds (NSF). Avakian, head of the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) and Oregon?s Wage and Hour Division, submitted the proposal to legislators this session as he identified a shortcoming in state law that limited workers? ability to recover losses associated with a bounced paycheck. ?This bill means that Oregon workers won?t have to get an attorney and go to court, just to recover their overdraft fees and charges that their employer forced them to incur,? Avakian said. ?Oregon families have a reasonable expectation that on payday they?re actually going to get paid. Employers should not be able to hand out bad checks and leave their employees holding the bag.? HB 2039A will allow the Wage and Hour Division to assess a civil penalty, equal to the existing damages for passing bad checks, as part of the regular wage claim process. Current law requires employees to take their employer to court to recover any damages for the bad check, which are capped at $500 above the value of the check. For most working Oregonians, like Misty Ferrier who received NSF checks while working at Gold?s Gym in Salem, the law change is a no-brainer. ?Bill collectors don't care that your paycheck has insufficient funds,? Ferrier said. ?I believe this bill is vital to holding the employer accountable as a business owner. Employees are responsible for being at work on their scheduled days; employers are supposed to pay their employees for their time worked. It's unfair for the employee to have to wait to be paid when they?ve done their job. Employees should be compensated for having to deal with this?a race to the bank in hopes there will be funds available is no way to live.? Asked about going to court for damages, Ferrier chuckled: ?Even if a lawyer would take on a case for a few hundred bucks, when was I going to find that lawyer? I have to work and take care of my family.? More information about BOLI is available here. HB 2039A now goes to Governor Kitzhaber for consideration. ###### The mission of the Bureau of Labor and Industries is to protect employment rights, advance employment opportunities, and protect access to housing and public accommodations free from discrimination. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpg Size: 7303 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 05.23.11 BOLI Release - NSF Paychecks.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 52325 bytes Desc: not available URL: