August 25, 2026

For Immediate Release

Redwood City —

The San Mateo County Attorney’s Office has filed a civil enforcement action to recover wages owed to workers at a plant nursery near Half Moon Bay. All workers in San Mateo County must be paid a fair wage for their work, and responsible employers should not be undercut by competitors who don’t follow the law.

The lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court on August 10, 2026, alleges multiple instances of wage theft, including violations of the County of San Mateo Minimum Wage Ordinance and related California labor laws.

It seeks to protect nearly 50 employees who experienced repeated violations of their rights between 2022 and late 2025 while jointly employed by Cal Coast Orchids, LLC, a producer of ornamental plants with facilities near Half Moon Bay and Los Osos, Calif., and Mixtiles USA d/b/a EasyPlant, a multinational plant retailer.

About two dozen of the workers have not been paid at all for up to three full pay periods of work performed in November and December 2025, including long hours worked leading up to Black Friday and the December holidays. This and other violations have caused major hardship for workers and their families, with ripple effects throughout the close-knit Coastside community where most of the affected employees reside. As one worker told a journalist, the workers found themselves completely without pay “right when it’s Christmas, [when we] have to pay the rent and buy presents for our kids.”

The complaint asks the court to order the defendants to pay their employees back wages and other damages, as well as civil penalties.  The case is part of a broader initiative to strengthen enforcement of workers’ rights laws throughout San Mateo County through the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement.

“We are taking enforcement action because San Mateo County businesses must be accountable for their obligations as employers,” said County Attorney John Nibbelin. “When an employer accepts a worker’s labor, they take on a clear legal duty: pay that employee fully and lawfully.”

“Our office works hard to ensure workers know their rights and to support high-road employers in complying with the law,” said Shireen Malekafzali Taidi, the County’s Chief Equity Officer and the Director of the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement. “While workers are the first to feel the harm of wage theft, the damage doesn’t stop there—it undercuts fair competition and can leave taxpayers picking up the cost of safety net services for workers who’ve been shortchanged. We’re grateful for the partnership between the County Executive’s Office, County Attorney’s Office, and District Attorney’s Office to create the OLSE, which enables the County to seek justice on behalf of affected workers.”

Workers and employers seeking help or more information can contact the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement by calling the confidential and multilingual Labor Advice Hotline at 1-866-870-7725, sending an email to olse@smcgov.org, or submitting an online inquiry.

All workers in San Mateo County deserve to be treated respectfully and paid fairly for the work they have completed. 

The case is People of the State of California, v. Cal Coast Orchids, LLC, et al., in San Mateo County Superior Court, Case No. 26-CIV-06206.
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