California Mailing Company Owner Pays Nearly $2 Million Over Unpaid Wages, Closure

The owner of a West Sacramento printing and bulk mailing company is paying nearly $2 million following litigation over unpaid wages and failure to give employees advance notice before abruptly closing the business in 2016. The California Labor Commissioner’s Office fined Capital Mailing Services Inc. owner Perice Sibley $1.9 million through two enforcement actions involving 136 former workers. According to the LCO, Capital Mailing sent employees home and permanently closed in February 2016, leaving them without their final paychecks. The company also failed to provide advance notice required under the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The LCO sued the company and Sibley in 2018 for Cal/WARN Act violations and unpaid minimum wages, seeking liquidated damages and waiting time penalties. A trial court ruled in favor of the office in 2023, and the California Court of Appeal later affirmed the $1.3 million judgment. Roughly 99% of that recovery is designated for workers, according to the LCO. The Cal/WARN Act requires covered employers to provide 60 days’ advance written notice before a covered mass layoff, relocation or termination. In a separate action to enforce wage judgments, the office collected $688,000 from Sibley, with 97% designated for 82 workers. Some 50 workers are owed payments from both recoveries. The LCO is continuing efforts to locate former Capital Mailing employees whose contact information may have changed since 2016. Topics California Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Here are more articles you may enjoy.