HispanicBusiness

Bloom Energy of Sunnyvale, Calif., must pay penalties and back wages to Mexican workers who were paid low wages in pesos, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

The announcement Tuesday noted the Silicon Valley clean-energy start-up company, which makes fuel cells and sells energy to clients including AT&T, Adobe, Coca-Cola and Walmart, was ordered to pay $31,922 in back wages and $6,160 in civil penalties.

The ruling followed a federal investigation which inspected company records from November 2010 to November 2012, labor officials said.

Labor Department spokeswoman Deanne Amaden said the workers, from Mexico, were paid on average $137 per week for 52-hour work weeks.

Their payment, in pesos, averaged $2.66 per hour, the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday.