Two Downey residents will have to pay victims more than $45,000 after Long Beach secured its first wage theft consent decree, the city prosecutor’s office said Friday.
Downey residents Arturo Mendoza Zavala, 58, and his son Alberto Zavala, 31, who operate Mattress Factory Direct in North Long Beach, were convicted of eight counts of wage theft and ordered to pay six victims, according to Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert.
The Zavalas were charged after evidence showed they were paying several employees in cash at a rate below minimum wage, failed to pay overtime and failed to give required meal breaks, city officials said…