Labor Commissioner v. Ramirez (In re Ramirez)

MEMORANDUM AFTER TRIAL

On July 12 and 13, 2016, this court conducted a trial in the above adversary proceeding.- All parties were represented by *450 counsel. Plaintiff Labor Commissioner of the State of California (the “Labor Commissioner”) asserts that defendant Juan Antonio Ramirez (“Ramirez”) failed to pay Luis Juarez $23,924.01 in wages and related statutory interest, damages and penalties, and that Ramirez cannot discharge this debt under Bankruptcy Code § 523(a)(2)(A), (a)(4), and (a)(6). The Labor Commissioner contends that he is the assignee of this claim. Juarez’s wage claim was established during an administrative hearing before the State of California’s Department of Industrial Relations. The results of this administrative hearing (during which both Ramirez and Juarez testified) are contained in a November 22, 2013 Order and Award of the State of California Labor Commissioner (the “November 22nd Order”), which became an Alameda County Superior Court judgment on January 9, 2014. Ramirez, a licensed California contractor who routinely hires periodic laborers such as Juarez, contends that his failure to pay Juarez’s wages is a dis-chargeable breach of contract claim. The…