COMMISSIONER JESSICA TETREAU: "LET THEM EAT CAKE"

"The people in the cheaper seats clap your hands, and the rest of you just rattle your jewelry.." 
John Lennon at the Beatles' Royal Variety Performance in London (November 1963).

By Juan Montoya
Fresh from suffering an embarrassing defeat in federal court on charges by three of their employees that they were grossly underpaid for their labor at the  Car Wash Plus located on Paredes Road owned by Arturo Kalifa and wife city commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa, she went on FB pages to show off a new gold bracelet adorned with a diamond cross.
The commissioners "modeled" her new purchase at fellow city commissioner Deborah Portillo's Chic Jewelry at the Sunrise Mall.
Commissioner Tetreau is apparently not shy about showing off the gold-and-diamond bracelet for her adoring constituents, although we don't expect that any of the three employees working at the car wash could dream of ever buying one with the wages they were paid.
Although the law requires that employers pay their workers the federal minimum wage, the the Texas Rural Legal Aid attorneys charged in their lawsuit against the firm that workers at the car wash had been paying as low as $1.50 to $2.30 an hour.
A federal jury found the Car Wash Plus, 725 Paredes Line Road, in Brownsville, had exercised unfair labor practices in the treatment of its workers.
 TRLA attorney Kelsey Snapp that the workers were grossly underpaid and only when they were actually washing cars.
“The workers were working 9 to 10-hour days but they were only getting paid when they were actually cleaning cars,” Snapp said. “However, they were required to be there the entire day."
City Commissioner told the local daily that her husband owned the the car wash but denied any of these allegations.
However, their updated website names both as owners and her application to run for city commissioner lists the car wash as her place of employment.
Jonathan Flores, Mark Kasick and Luis Villarreal sued the company owned by Kalifa, co-owner George Tetreau, and manager Rey Garcia and claimed that they and other workers at the car wash facility were not properly compensated during employment at the business.

The employees said in the suit that although they were expected to be at the facility for at least nine hours a day, they could only punch in the clock when they actually were washing cars.They said they were paid only for the hours spent actively washing cars.

The workers were represented by attorneys with Texas Legal Aid. The TRLA alleged that the Carwash Plus practices violated the Fair Labor Standards Act on minimum wage, overtime, as well as the Texas Minimum Wage Act.
Katy Youker, who represented the employees, said the workers will receive their owed wages and additional damages. Youker said the case could set a precedent in the state.
“We think this case sets an important precedent,” she told the Brownsville Herald. She said the underpaying of workers there caused problems for other businesses creating an unfair advantage which competitors must deal with.
“It’s bad for business,” she said.
 Kalifa had no comment on the case.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen will determine the amount of damages to be awarded the workers.
With all that stress caused by the pesky lawsuit, your average well-heeled city commissioner apparently needed to pamper herself with a nice gold bracelet adorned with a few pieces of ice for good measure.
Yes, John was right, the rich are different.