🗞️ Paycheck Predators: Newport Beach Contractor Ordered to Pay $468K in Stolen Wages

A Newport Beach construction company and its principals have been ordered to repay nearly half a million dollars to workers they repeatedly shorted on wages, the latest enforcement action in an intensifying federal and state crackdown on labor violations in California's construction industry.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced April 15, 2026, that a federal court had approved a consent judgment against SCA General Contracting Inc. and its operators, Sundeep Pandhoh and Gary Tetone, requiring the company to pay $468,505 in back wages and liquidated damages to 137 workers. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California approved the judgment on December 17, 2025.

Investigators found that over a 13-month span from November 2024 through November 2025, SCA missed payroll repeatedly, paid workers below the federal minimum wage, and failed to provide legally required overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a week. The company also retaliated against at least one worker who raised complaints about missing pay. That worker was ordered reinstated by the court.

The enforcement action arrives as wage-and-hour scrutiny of California contractors has reached levels not seen in years. Nationally, the Department of Labor recovered more back wages in 2025 than in any year since 2019, as private FLSA lawsuits also climbed. In California, the state's Bureau of Field Enforcement has cited roughly 2,100 employers and recovered more than $43.7 million in wages, penalties, and interest since 2022, with construction firms among the most frequently targeted.

Legislators in Sacramento have moved to sharpen the consequences further. Assembly Bill 1002, signed by Governor Newsom in October 2025, gives the state Attorney General new authority to seek the suspension or revocation of contractor licenses for wage theft violations, a penalty that goes well beyond the financial judgments federal courts can impose. For contractors operating in California, the legal exposure now runs on two tracks simultaneously.

Key Points

• $468,505 in back wages and liquidated damages was ordered for 137 workers
• Violations included missed payrolls, sub-minimum wages, unpaid overtime, and worker retaliation
• The court ordered reinstatement of an employee terminated for complaining about nonpayment
• The DOL classified the violations as willful and assessed civil penalties accordingly
• California's AB 1002, enacted October 2025, enables contractor license suspension for wage theft
• Federal FLSA enforcement recovery hit its highest level since 2019 in 2025
• California's BOFE has cited approximately 2,100 employers and recovered $43.7 million in wages, penalties, and interest since 2022
• California contractors now face concurrent federal and state enforcement risk

Primary Source Author: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division; Acting Western Regional Administrator Cesar Avila and Regional Solicitor Marc Pilotin

Primary Source: California construction contractor ordered to pay back wages, damages to 137 workers denied overtime, minimum wages, U.S. Department of Labor, April 15, 2026

Supplemental Links

• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overview, DOL
• DOL Wage and Hour Division, Compliance Assistance
• California AB 1002, Contractor License Suspension for Wage Theft, Vensure Employment Law
• 2026 California Labor & Employment Update, Hanson Bridgett
• California BOFE Cites L.A. Developers $2.3M for Construction Wage Theft, CA DIR
• 2025 FLSA Litigation Metrics & Trends, Seyfarth Shaw
• DOL Wage and Hour Back Wage Search Tool