Solis

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Hilda L. Solis, United States Secretary of Labor (the “Secretary”), brought this action against Defendants Best Miracle Corporation (“Best Miracle”), Thuy Thi Le, and Toan Van Nguyen (collectively “Defendants”) for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) at their garment shop in Santa Ana, California. After considering all the evidence presented by the parties at a seven-day bench trial, the Court finds that Defendants brazenly disregarded the FLSA by exploiting low-wage garment workers and requiring them to work long hours without proper compensation. Congress enacted the FLSA in 1938 to protect workers from such sweatshop practices. The Court now enjoins Defendants from withholding $172,832.50 in unpaid backwages and from further violating the FLSA.

II. BACKGROUND

Ms. Le opened Best Miracle in the summer of 2005. It was not her first foray into the garment industry. Soon after Ms. Le immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 1992, she began working as a seamstress. Beginning in 1999, Ms. Le owned or operated a number of garment shops in Southern California under different names, including a company called…