A father and his son are facing criminal charges following an investigation by our California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) members who are investigators at the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).

State Street Grill owners David Dadon, 61, and Barry Dadon, 27, are accused of hiring college students to work at their San Diego restaurant and not paying them.

The labor commission knows of 23 victims and believes there may be many more.  The investigation revealed that wages of over $350,000 were never paid to young people hired as “trainees.”   The owners are also accused of keeping tip money  intended for employees.

“This is nothing short of stealing,” said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.  “It’s crooked, deceitful and I am proud of our investigators who protect innocent, hard-working employees who are simply trying to earn a living.”

A grand jury indicted the two men on a total of 21 felony counts of workers’ compensation premium fraud, payroll tax evasion, sales tax evasion and grand theft of labor.

The investigation began last May and revealed employees were hired to work but were not paid as trainees and were then paid less than $5.00 an hour.  The employees worked as servers and cooks.  In some cases the trainees worked eight hours a day for seven days and were then terminated and never paid.

If convicted, David Dadon faces 21 years in prison.  Barry Dadon faces 18 years in prison.  The labor commissioner is urging any victims not yet identified to contact DIR Investigator Craig Eastep.

Congratulations to Investigator Eastep for a job well done!