Attorney General James Recovers $1.1 Million for Rikers Island Cleaners Cheated out of Fair Pay

January 22, 2025

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that she has recovered nearly $1.13 million in stolen wages for workers at CleanTech, a professional maintenance company that provided cleaning services at facilities on Rikers Island during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation uncovered widespread labor violations including wage theft, failure to provide paid sick leave, illegal kickbacks, and retaliation against workers who complained. As a result of OAG's investigation, CleanTech will pay $1,029,175 in restitution to approximately 250 impacted workers.

"Every worker deserves fair pay and should be treated with dignity and respect," said Attorney General James. "At the height of the pandemic, CleanTech refused to provide paid sick leave, denied its workers fair pay, and employed crew chiefs who stole workers' hard-earned wages by forcing them to pay kickbacks just to keep their jobs and retaliated against workers who complained. I am proud to return these wages to the New Yorkers who rightfully earned them, and my office will always hold companies accountable for their exploitation of vulnerable workers.

"CleanTech threatened, coerced, retaliated against, stole wages from, and denied paid sick leave for its Rikers COVID-19 cleaners, who risked their own health to disinfect where thousands were detained in close quarters," said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. "I commend the Attorney General for reaching this settlement, and as part of this settlement, our office will provide CleanTech training on prevailing wage law to ensure compliance going forward. Adhering to labor rules is non-negotiable."

"The settlement reached by Attorney General James is a significant victory for the 250 workers whose wages were stolen and who faced retaliation for complaining about the violations," said Deputy Director of Catholic Migration Services Alice Davis. "We commend the Attorney General's office for standing up against wage theft and other workplace abuses, and also the complainants, who came forward with their claims despite overwhelming pressure and intimidation by their former employer. This case underscores the importance of speaking out against exploitation."

The OAG opened an investigation into CleanTech in 2022 after receiving a complaint from Catholic Migration Services regarding an illegal kickback policy. The OAG found that from September to December 2021, CleanTech erroneously reported paying their workers prevailing wages, overtime, and supplemental benefits for their labor on a public contract at Rikers Island. In reality, the company paid workers below the required rates, failed to provide paid sick leave, and employed crew chiefs that coerced workers into paying kickbacks, or returning portions of their wages, just to keep their jobs. Those crew chiefs also retaliated against employees who spoke out or complained about the mistreatment by firing them.

One worker told OAG that she was regularly expected to kick back $120 of her regular $720 weekly paycheck, and when she worked overtime, she was required to kick back $240 of her approximately $1,000 paycheck. The worker shared that her crew chief would consistently threaten her job if she didn't pay the kickback, telling her, "If you don't [kickback] the money, you don't have work." Another worker shared that when he worked more hours than usual and received a higher paycheck as a result, one of the crew chiefs told him, "You're getting more hours and more money, you need to return more to me." Both workers shared that the crew chiefs would regularly emphasize the importance of the kickbacks, coming around as they were working to remind them to pay the money they supposedly owed or else face termination. The kickbacks happened for 13 out of the 16 weeks of the cleaning contract.

As a result of OAG's investigation, the two crew chiefs who were receiving kickbacks lost their management positions, and one is no longer employed by CleanTech. Moving forward, all CleanTech crew chiefs will be subjected to mandatory trainings. CleanTech will pay OAG $1,129,175, including $100,000 to cover the cost of administering the settlement and distributing restitution. Any funds not used to administer the settlement will be used as restitution, which will be distributed to affected workers through a claims process overseen by the settlement administrator. CleanTech has also agreed to implement broad reforms, including trainings in both English and Spanish led by the Office of the New York City Comptroller's Bureau of Labor Law for any employee involved in prevailing wage contracts, such as management and subcontractors. CleanTech must also provide bilingual notices to employees about their rights and provide regular reports to OAG about its compliance for three years.

Attorney General James encourages New Yorkers who believe they have been victims of wage theft or other labor violations to contact OAG by filing a confidential complaint online or calling (212) 416-8700.

Attorney General James has made it a priority to combat wage theft, especially in industries employing low-wage workers. In December 2024, Attorney General James recovered $4 million in withheld tips for former Drizly alcohol delivery workers. In September 2024, Attorney General James returned $750,000 in stolen wages to employees of cell phone company Best Wireless. In April 2024, Attorney General James secured nearly $230,000 for building employees cheated out of fair pay. In November 2023, Attorney General James recovered $328 million for Uber and Lyft drivers whose earnings were shortchanged for years. In August 2023, Attorney General James recovered $300,000 in unpaid wages for New York City nail salon workers. In March 2023, Attorney General James recovered $24,000 in stolen wages for former employees of a worker cooperative. In October 2022, Attorney General James secured $90,000 in stolen and unpaid wages for more than a dozen former employees of a commercial dry cleaner in Queens.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Abigail Ramos with assistance from Legal Support Analyst Kenny Ip, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Young Lee and Bureau Chief Karen Cacace, all of the Labor Bureau. The Labor Bureau is a part of the Division for Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.