A court has ordered a restaurant in the US state of California to pay $140,000 in back wages and damages for hiring a fake priest to extract “confessions” from its workers.

During litigation by the US Department of Labor in federal court, an employee of Che Garibaldi Inc., the owner of Taqueria Garibaldi restaurant, which has a location in Sacramento and one in Roseville, said the “priest urged workers to ‘get the sins out’ and asked employees if they had stolen from the employer, been late for work, had done anything to harm their employer, or if they had bad intentions toward their employer,” the department said in a news release.

Authorities launched an investigation based on employee complaints, while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento reported that no pastor affiliated with them had anything to do with the incident.

During the investigation, it was determined that the restaurant chain did not pay overtime to the employees, resulting in it being fined $140,000.

The Department of Labor described the act as “shameless,” saying the employer aimed to “silence workers, obstruct an investigation and prevent the recovery of unpaid wages.” (Anadolu Agency)