An owner of a Northern California taqueria was the target of a federal wage theft investigation in November 2021 when he brought in a strange guest to talk to his employees. Eduardo Hernandez told workers at Taqueria Garibaldi in Sacramento that the man, who claimed to be a priest, was there to hear confession and “help with mental health,” according to an account that one employee gave federal regulators. But the employee, Maria Parra, found her interaction with the man to be more like an interrogation than a confession. Ms. Parra said that he told her he would ask her questions “to get the sins out of me.” But when the questioning began, the man “mostly had work-related questions,” she said. “The priest asked if I had stolen anything at work, if I was late to my employment, if I did anything to harm my employer and if I had any bad intentions toward my employment,” Ms. Parra said in a sworn declaration.

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Persons: Northern California taqueria, Eduardo Hernandez, Taqueria Garibaldi, Maria Parra, Parra, “, ”, ” Ms Organizations: Taqueria Locations: Northern California, Sacramento