Pay Back

A Culver City municipal court judge has ordered the husband and wife team that ran Cardillo Travel Systems when it suddenly collapsed 2 1/2 years ago to pay 27 former employees $53,000 in back wages. In accepting their no-contest pleas, Judge Ronald Combast also placed A. Walter Rognlien, 77, and his wife, Esther Lawrence Rognlien, 47, on probation for one year. A. Walter Rognlien additionally pleaded no contest to a single count of failing to pay state withholding taxes. Assistant Dist.

The owner of a Santa Ana garment manufacturing firm agreed to pay 11 workers a total of $30,442 in back wages to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal spokesman said Friday. Dang Thai Tran, owner of Mimi Fashion in Santa Ana, agreed to the settlement without admitting guilt, said Joe Kirkbride, a Labor Department spokesman. The workers were paid below minimum wage and received money strictly based on "piece rates," Kirkbride said.

Q: I recently had surgery and went on disability. During my recovery time, I received a job offer from a company where I had applied previously. Can I quit my job while I'm on disability and can my present employer legally request that I pay the company back any of the disability money I received? --W.S., Irvine A: Disability benefits in California are provided by the state and funded through a system of employer and employee contributions.

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries has found the Nordstrom department store chain in violation of the state's minimum wage act, vindicating a union's complaint that the company requires salespeople to work "off the clock" to make good on its pledge of superb customer service.

Tino Martinez figured it was payback time for the New York Yankees. "They were real tough on us in New York," Martinez said after Thursday's 4-0 victory over the Blue Jays at Toronto. "We wanted to come here and make a statement. I thought we were successful." Martinez hit his 20th homer--his third in three games--and David Cone struck out 12. New York swept the two-game series following a 1-6 homestand. "No disrespect to the rest of their pitching staff," said Martinez.

State education officials on Tuesday ordered a well-known immigrant rights organization to repay $4.3 million it received for adult education classes for the past three years, concluding it was impossible to determine whether the funds were properly spent. In addition to the action taken against Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, a second group, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), was ordered to repay nearly $400,000 in adult education funds.

Cal Lutheran defeated defending NCAA Division III champion La Verne, 3-1, in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball opener Friday at Cal Lutheran. Adam Rauch had a run-scoring single in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie and Sean Smith followed with a sacrifice fly. Last season, the Leopards (4-2) swept the Kingsmen (4-3-1) in three games in an NCAA regional tournament. Erik Kiszcak (1-0) pitched four scoreless innings in relief, striking out five.

Doug Williams, the Redskins' $475,000 insurance policy, paid off handsomely Sunday. Williams, coming off the bench after quarterback Jay Schroeder sprained his shoulder, threw for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns in only his second NFL game since 1982 and led Washington to a 34-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

What's $120 million between friends? Village Roadshow Pictures, which has owed that much to Warner Bros. for nearly a year on four films released in 2008, has repaid the studio after restructuring its $1.4-billion credit line. Amid last year's financial collapse, the Australian film financing company unexpectedly lost access to funds it had committed to use for a 50% stake in "Get Smart," "Gran Torino," "Nights in Rodanthe" and "Yes Man." It has been co-financing Warner movies for over a decade.

Han Jin thought he had a foolproof business plan to get his family out of debt. He rented extra land next to his tiny farm here to grow heaps of cabbage at a time when the price of the leafy vegetable was soaring. But when it came time to harvest this spring, the hapless father of two discovered thousands of other farmers had the same idea. Wholesalers were flooded with greens. Prices plummeted. Left with a field of nearly worthless vegetables and owing more money than he earned in a year, Han locked himself in his bathroom in April and hanged himself.