Silicon Valley Energy Company Busted for Underpaying Mexican Workers

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Univision 14, News Report, Posted: Feb 06, 2013


SAN FRANCISCO -- The Sunnyvale-based clean energy company Bloom Energy Corp., has been ordered by a judge to pay $31,922 in back wages and an equal amount in damages to 14 Mexican workers. According to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, the company brought in workers from Chihuahua, Mexico to refurbish power generators and paid them about $2.66 an hour in pesos, which is below miminum wage.

"This investigation has remedied illegal pay practices for a group of workers subjected to substandard wages," stated Ruben Rosalez, a Labor Department administrator for the region's Wage and Hour Division in a news release. "It is appalling that this was happening right in the heart of Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest per capita areas in the U.S."

Bloom Energy makes fuel cells and sells energy to clients including AT&T, Adobe, Coca-Cola, eBay, Google and Wal-Mart.

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