L.A. Developers Cited $2,345,384 at Four Jobsites: Entity-Shifting, Daily Overtime, and How Construction Workers File

Aug 28, 2026

—

Multiple LLCs on the stub is not a payroll feature. It is often the tell. On August 21, 2025, the Labor Commissioner issued citations totaling $2,345,384 to developers and affiliated entities at four Los Angeles construction sites, covering 124 workers. More than $2.1 million is unpaid wages and damages, plus over $165,000 in interest. DIR says that averages about $18,900 per person. DIR News Release 2025-82.

What the Law Says

Bureau of Field Enforcement investigators found workers denied overtime despite regularly working more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, paid below the Los Angeles minimum wage, and denied required sick leave and accurate itemized wage statements. Workers frequently received multiple pay stubs from different corporate entities while reporting to the same supervisors on overlapping projects. DIR called that a deliberate attempt to evade overtime and minimum wage. The investigation also found failure to provide paid sick leave and COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. The period is May 2021 through August 2023. The Carpenters/Contractors Cooperation Committee referred the case in March 2023.

Worksites in the release: 751 South Valencia Street, Los Angeles 90017; 2020 North Barranca Street, Los Angeles 90031; 5933–5939 Monterey Road and 470 South Avenue 60, Los Angeles 90042; 215 North San Fernando Road, Los Angeles 90031.

Named on the citations: Todd Wexman; Bridget Wexman; Jeffrey Farrington; San Fernando Studios LP and LLC; Monterey 60 LP and LLC; 4Mica LP and LLC; Barranca Studios LP and LLC. Framing, tiling, painting, and plumbing work. Employers generally have 15 business days after service to appeal. DIR’s release states that if no appeal is filed, the citations become final.

Labor Code section 510 is daily overtime after eight hours — construction included. Section 1194 recovers unpaid minimum wage and overtime. Section 226 is the wage statement. Section 246 is paid sick leave. A local Los Angeles minimum wage that is higher than the state floor is still a wage owed; DIR found pay below that local rate. I am using DIR’s description, not inventing a Municipal Code section number.

How to Fight Back, Step by Step

List every entity on every stub and every jobsite address. For this citation, start with the four addresses and the Wexman / Farrington / Studios / Monterey 60 / 4Mica / Barranca names above. Same supervisor plus rotating LLC is the pattern DIR described.

Reconstruct hours by day, not just by week. California overtime is daily. If you worked 10 hours and were paid straight time, that is two hours at time-and-a-half before you even reach 40.

Keep badge photos, sign-in sheets, GC daily reports, and sick days you worked because no paid sick leave was offered. DIR found missing sick leave and missing supplemental COVID sick leave in this investigation.

If you worked those four sites in 2021–2023 and were not contacted, call 1-833-LCO-INFO (833-526-4636) and cite DIR News Release 2025-82. Ask whether you are one of the 124.

File a wage claim at dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileWageClaim.htm naming the individuals and entities on your stubs and the worksite address. Do not pick only the last LLC. Entity-shifting is the violation, not the excuse.

Common Questions

Each stub was a different company. Does that reset overtime every week?

No. DIR found multiple stubs from different entities while workers reported to the same supervisors on overlapping projects, used to evade overtime and minimum wage. Daily overtime under section 510 follows the hours, not the letterhead. Put every name on the claim.

I was paid “project rate.” Is that legal?

A project or piece rate still has to clear minimum wage for all hours, including non-productive time, and overtime still applies when the hours cross eight in a day. DIR’s finding here was unpaid overtime, below-minimum pay, missing sick leave, and bad wage statements — not a blessing of a lump-sum deal. File on the hours.

Get the free Wage Theft Recovery Kit at wagetheftkit.com — demand-letter templates, hours worksheets, and DLSE filing checklists. The same kit is at justiceprompt.com. Educational use only — not legal advice.