Unique On The Go Corp., a car detailing and rental fleet management company, will pay $166,011 to resolve allegations that it misclassified 84 workers in the District of Columbia as independent contractors instead of employees.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the agreement follows an investigation that found workers were paid less than the minimum wage, denied overtime pay, and deprived of sick and safe leave protections.
“We will not allow companies to illegally boost their profits, strip their workers of labor protections, and undercut their competitors by misclassifying their workforce,” Schwalb stated. “This settlement holds Unique On The Go accountable for violating D.C. labor laws, puts wages back in the pockets of workers who were harmed, and helps ensure that when businesses play by the rules, they are competing on a level playing field.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Unique will pay $111,008 in restitution to affected workers, covering unpaid wages, overtime, and liquidated damages. The company will also pay $55,003 in civil penalties to the District.
Unique, which contracts with rental car companies, dealerships, and other facilities for auto maintenance and staffing services, denied wrongdoing but agreed to reclassify its District workers as employees.
The company must now maintain policies to prevent future misclassification, review any contractors still working in the District to ensure proper classification, and submit quarterly compliance reports for one year.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) noted that the settlement is part of a larger effort to address wage theft and misclassification across industries with high concentrations of vulnerable workers. In its 2025 Labor Day Report, OAG said it secured over $20 million for workers and the District since Schwalb took office in January 2023, with more than $35 million recovered since the office gained wage theft enforcement authority in 2015.
Officials contend that worker misclassification remains a persistent problem in the District.
Employers who improperly treat employees as independent contractors avoid paying minimum wage, overtime, paid sick leave, and contributions to unemployment and paid family leave programs. According to OAG’s report, misclassification accounted for more than 11% of the office’s labor enforcement cases between Labor Day 2024 and Labor Day 2025. “[D.C. Attorney General] Brian Schwalb and his workers’ rights teams are doing amazing work,” social media user Terri Gerstein wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in August, after the OAG went after an illegal worker misclassification scheme.
The settlement with Unique follows other recent enforcement actions targeting construction, hospitality, and gig economy employers. In March, OAG reached a $191,750 settlement with Diverse Masonry Corporation for misclassifying construction workers, and earlier this year, it sued delivery company Gopuff for misclassification schemes that deprived workers of wages and benefits.
District law requires that employees be paid a minimum wage of $17.95 per hour, receive overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week, and accrue paid sick leave. Independent contractors are not entitled to these protections and must pay their own taxes and insurance, making misclassification a way for companies to cut costs while denying workers their rights.
“Since I took office in 2023, we have secured over $20 million for workers and D.C. in worker restitution and civil penalties,” Schwalb stated in the Labor Day Report. “These victories show that when employers cheat their workers, our office will hold them accountable and fight to level the playing field for law-abiding businesses.”
Workers who believe their rights have been violated or who suspect wage theft can contact OAG at (202) 724-7730 or by emailing workers@dc.gov or trabajadores@dc.gov.
This company should be reported to ICE. They’re laundering money thru illegal workers and taking advantage of them.