Ceviche, Fajitas, & Confessions

The owner of several California restaurants was ordered this week to pay $140,000 in damages and back wages after he hired a "priest" to hear confessions from his employees in the workplace. 

Taqueria Garibaldi was already under investigation for federal wage theft when owner Che Garibaldi hired a man who identified as a priest to attempt to get employees to admit workplace "sins" such as tardiness, ill intentions towards management, and stealing. U.S. Department of Labor officials began watching the restaurant chain more closely in 2021 when they discovered a "fake priest" had been meeting with employees to encourage confessions.

According to federal investigators, the priest was hired to help the employer retaliate against employees by silencing them, obstructing the Labor Department investigation, and preventing the recovery of unpaid wages. 

"The priest urged workers to 'get their sins out,'" according to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor this week. The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento states that they have no connection with the "priest" hired by Che Garibaldi, the owner who operates two Taqueria Garibaldi restaurants in Sacramento and one in Roseville, California.

The Taqueria Garibaldi "fake priest" may seem like an obvious example of the false prophets Jesus warns us about in the New Testament, but can you imagine the pressure the Taqueria Garibaldi employees must have experienced when they were asked to meet individually with a priest who seemed to have been sent as a gift rather than a mole?

Remember Jesus' words in Matthew 7:

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

How careful are you to watch for the fruit in the lives of those you follow, and how successful are you in guiding others to do the same? Bullies only sustain their power when we allow them to, and too often we remain silent in situations where the Holy Spirit is pressing us to speak up. How will you speak up for the voiceless this week, calling out the false prophets as you seek to walk more closely with our Creator?

Blessings on your week,

Jennie