Last winter, Virginia tearfully relayed an incident from the previous holiday season, when she and other workers at a Cypress Hills sweatshop waited for hours to receive their promised back pay after confronting the owners of the tobacco-processing business.
Virginia, who like other workers who spoke with THE CITY asked that her real name not be published, worked 13-hour days, six days a week in a cramped unventilated shop for HotHead Grabba, a brand of ground tobacco sold in bodegas and smoke shops.
She said the workers earned less than the hourly minimum wage and no overtime — when even they got paid at all.
She recalled how there were no gifts for their kids that Christmas: the promised money never arrived.
But on Wednesday, Virginia shed tears of joy when she learned that HotHead Grabba and three of its operators were charged with a slew of crimes that include stealing more than $310,000 in pay in a 74-count indictment unveiled by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
“My god, what a relief!” Virginia cried out in Spanish. “Finally, finally, there is justice, thank you God.”
“I never thought I’d see the day,” she added. “Our struggle was not in vain.”
The three defendants — Hunter Segree, Isayed Rojas and Joshua Howard — all pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Wednesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun.
Virginia and other whistleblowers were aided by the Brooklyn-based Workers Justice Project, which learned of the sweatshop last year and worked quickly to help the sweatshop workers — many of them middle-aged mothers — gather evidence before filing formal complaints with federal and local labor authorities.
WJP has helped nearly 50 people submit wage theft complaints to the state Department of Labor and the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
“This is a testament that it is possible to seek justice, it is possible to use the system to ensure that abusive employers are held accountable,” said Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of WJP. “And we’re proud of that.”
Workers who spoke with THE CITY said they were shocked and overjoyed by news of the criminal charges.
Among them were Ana, who worked at the Chestnut Street sweatshop from August to October of 2023. She told THE CITY Wednesday that she and fellow workers toiled for 13-hour days, six to seven times a week — yet she collected only $500 in pay.
She said she is owed about $7,000 in unpaid minimum wages and overtime.
“They were completely shameless, they were completely without shame,” she said of her former bosses. “They are the biggest liars I have met in my entire life.”
As outlined in the indictment and in THE CITY’s reporting, workers were bound by a 15-lb. daily quota and told they would be paid $7 per pound of tobacco stripped — compensation that amounted to less than half of New York’s hourly minimum wage, due to the time-consuming nature of the job.
Virginia and Ana, like other workers, were unfamiliar with New York labor laws and minimum wage requirements. They said they knew they were getting ripped off on pay, but had no idea how much they were actually owed until they met with WJP to submit their complaints.
The Chestnut Street workers were also aided in their efforts by Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who represents the Brooklyn district where the sweatshop was located and served as a liaison between WJP and the federal agencies. In a statement, she praised WJP “for sounding the alarm and to the Brooklyn DA for holding these individuals accountable.”
“What happened at HotHead Grabba is a disgrace. These women were taken advantage of because they were immigrants and because their employers thought they could get away with it,” Velázquez added. “I hope this case sends a clear message that exploiting immigrant workers will not be tolerated in our city.”
Virginia and Ana have continued to rebuild their lives since quitting their HotHead Grabba jobs; they both now work as industrial cleaners. Virginia is also aiming to enroll in training to become a home health aide. They said they’re still fearful of their former bosses — who were all released Wednesday without bail — and of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants.
In spite of the risks, Virginia said she urges other workers in similar positions not to let fear hold them back from fighting for their rights.
“I always tell people, and I’ll say it again: it’s never too late to raise our voice. We are not just immigrants, we are hard-working people and we have rights,” she said. “We cannot stay quiet, we have to fight for our rights. If we stay quiet, that’s when people take advantage of us.”
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