Restaurant Used Fake Priest To Ask Employees About 'Sins' At Work: Authorities

SACRAMENTO, CA — A northern California restaurant had a fake priest offer confession to employees in an attempt to learn of any troubling work habits, according to authorities.

The supposed priest heard confession for Che Garibaldi Inc. during work hours, urging employees to “get the sins out,” and asked if they had stolen, been late, or done anything to harm the business, authorities said.

“The priest mostly had work-related questions, which I thought was strange,” server Maria Parra said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Che Garibaldi runs two Taqueria Garibaldi restaurants in Sacramento and one in Roseville, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The company and its owners and operators — Eduardo Hernandez, Hector Manual Martinez Galindo and Alejandro Rodriguez — were ordered to pay $140,000 in back wages and damages to 35 employees, as well as $5,000 to the department, according to authorities.

The company denied overtime pay, compensated managers from the tip pool, threatened workers with retaliation and immigration consequences for cooperating with the labor department, and fired an employee they believed had complained to the department, authorities said.

“Under oath, an employee of Taqueria Garibaldi explained how the restaurant offered a supposed priest to hear their workplace ‘sins’ while other employees reported that a manager falsely claimed that immigration issues would be raised by the department’s investigation,” Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin said last week in a news release.

“This employer’s despicable attempts to retaliate against employees were intended to silence workers, obstruct an investigation and prevent the recovery of unpaid wages.”

The alleged priest had no connection to the Diocese of Sacramento, according to Catholic News Agency. Hernandez did not respond to a comment request from the Times.