Labor Commissioner's Office Recovers Nearly $2 Million for 136 Workers Left Unpaid When Company Closed a Decade Ago
SACRAMENTO — The California Labor Commissioner's Office (LCO) has recovered approximately $1,988,000 for 136 former workers from the owner of Capital Mailing Services, Inc., following the West Sacramento printing and bulk mailing company's abrupt closure, the Department of Industrial Relations announced on October 16.
In February 2016, Capital Mailing sent its employees home and permanently closed, leaving them without jobs or their final paychecks. The company failed to provide the advance notice required under the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (Cal/WARN). In 2018, the Labor Commissioner's Office sued Capital Mailing and its owner, Perice Sibley, for Cal/WARN violations and unpaid minimum wages, and also filed a fraudulent transfer action to prevent the owner from transferring assets to avoid financial responsibility.
In 2023, the trial court ruled in favor of the Labor Commissioner's Office, and the California Court of Appeal later affirmed the $1.3 million judgment, approximately 99 percent of which is designated for workers. In a separate action to enforce wage judgments, the office collected approximately $688,000 from Sibley, with 97 percent designated for 82 workers. Approximately 50 workers are owed payments from both recoveries. Former employees received payments at an event in Sacramento on October 16, 2026.
"Workers should not lose the wages and protections they are owed simply because a business closes its doors. This case shows why enforcement requires persistence," said Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower. "More than a decade after these workers were sent home, we are still working to make sure the money we recovered reaches the people who earned it."
"It means a lot to see this process through to the end. It's not only about getting the money we earned. It's about knowing that what happened to us mattered, that we weren't just left on our own to carry the consequences," said former employee Benjamin Clark.
The Labor Commissioner's Office said it is continuing efforts to reach former Capital Mailing employees whose contact information may have changed since 2016; those who believe they may be entitled to funds can email [email protected]. The office recovered more than $78 million in wages across its enforcement programs in 2025.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州劳工关系部总部所在的奥克兰Elihu Harris州政府大楼（资料图，Mx. Granger摄，CC0，Wikimedia Commons）。The Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in Oakland, home to the Department of Industrial Relations (file photo by Mx. Granger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons).
