Gurbaksh Chahal ordered to pay ex-driver $480K in back wages

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Gurbaksh Chahal, a San Francisco Internet entrepreneur who was forced out of his company after being convicted of domestic violence, has now be formally ordered by a judge to pay his former driver nearly half a million dollars in unpaid wages.

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Gurbaksh Chahal, a former San Francisco Internet entrepreneur who was forced out of his company after being convicted of domestic violence, has now be formally ordered by a judge to pay his former driver nearly half a million dollars in unpaid wages.

Chahal, 33, was ordered by a California Labor Commissioner to pay $480,727.81 to Khabib Lutfiyev, his former chauffeur, for almost a year’s worth of time on the job.

Lutfiyev was hired as Chahal’s private driver and bodyguard for his 30th birthday celebration in Bodrum, Turkey, and was ultimately offered full-time work in the same regard from Chahal. When the two returned to California, Lutfiyev assumed the position, Stephanie Barrett, a hearing officer for the labor commission, wrote in the order of the Feb. 11 Sili. Though hesitant at first, Lutfiyev accepted the job on the contingency his family would be relocated to the Bay Area alongside him — a proposition he purportedly came to with the owner of the limousine company he worked for.

Chahal moved the family to Brisbane while Lutfiyev began his new job, Katherine Fiester of the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center said to The San Francisco Chronicle during an interview Tuesday. However, despite the its smooth beginnings, the entire operation soon made a turn for the worst.

Chahal installed an app on Lutfiyev’s phone called “Ping Me,” which tracked every move of his driver, and required him to be on call 24/7, according to Barrett’s order. Feister said Lutfiyev was lucky to log more than a few hours of sleep at night because of his constant work tending to Chahal’s needs.

[quote style=’1′ cite=” title=”]“Being his personal limo driver literally translated into a few hours of sleep a night, and ultimately he wasn’t being paid at all.”[/quote] Feister said.

The two came to an agreement that Lutfiyev would be paid a flat rate of $7,000 per month, according to Feister. But whenever the conversation Lutfiyev’s compensation was brought up, Chahal allegedly responded by saying, “do you want your family evicted?”

“I would drive his Rolls-Royce and his Ferrari and people would think I get paid a good salary,” Lutfiyev told the Chronicle. “He told me I have to park in front of night clubs and strip clubs and tell them ‘That’s Gurbaksh’s car.’”

“When you see an employer like Mr. Chahal not paying their employee, a lot of times it’s about manipulation and control and taking advantage,” Fiester said.

In June 2013, Chahal’s relationship with Lutfiyev and his employer came to an end — the labor commission ultimately found that Chahal, the former RadiumOne CEO and once considered the prime of San Francisco’s most eligible bachelors, owed Lutfiyev $270,816 in unpaid wages, $71,425 in damages, $92,452 in interest and $46,003 in penalties. Chahal’s fall from grace has been well documented — he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of battery and domestic violence battery in April 2014, stemming from an August 2013 assault of his girlfriend in their Rincon Hill home.

Just weeks later, the RadiumOne board of directors decided to fire him as CEO. Before RadiumOne, Chahal founded founded and sold two other Internet companies for more than $300 million.

Chahal has until Wednesday to appeal the order, but before his appeal can be heard, he is required to pay the entire amount ordered.

Information from the San Francisco Chronicle contributed to this report