shop routinely had 60-hour work weeks and employees had "insane deadlines" working for Friedlinghaus, a "self-described micromanager". One former employee, Mauricio Hernández, who would go on to co-found the Mexican franchise of WCC, claimed in an interview with NPR that during the period of his employment at the California branch (2004–2009), he worked ten to twelve hours per day, six days per week as an undocumented worker, without Social Security or any other benefits, and that by so doing he "missed...the childhood of [his] kids." In an interview with Entertainment Scoop, when asked "What does it take to be an employee at West Coast Customs?" Friedlinghaus replied, "Not saying, 'when do I go home?' The guys who want to stay and work and get things done...it's hard to find people that are good...[people who will do] whatever we ask them to do." On April 23, 2014, after an investigation by the United States Department of Labor (USDOL), the company was found to have violated the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The government found that the company was not paying employees overtime or minimum wage nor keeping proper records. During the investigation, the government found that all employees were paid a weekly salary, regardless of how many hours they worked. Because employees were frequently coerced to work overtime, this resulted in a wage of $6/hour for some employees. Furthermore, until 2011, the company attempted to skirt minimum wage and overtime laws by classifying their on-site exclusive long-term employees as independent contractors, which is illegal in the United States. When presented with the opportunity to go to court or pay the fine assessed by USDOL, Friedlinghaus chose to pay the fine, which amounted to $157,592 in back wages for the wronged employees and $16,830 in civil penalties. In an interview with The Press-Enterprise after the fine was paid, Daniel Pasquil, the director for the wages and hour division of the West Covina office of the USDOL, noted that "the most important thing is that the company did correct the violations" and stressed that the company is now in full compliance. Quality issues alleged Jake Glazier's Buick Century In 2015, The Huffington Post interviewed three people who were participants on Pimp My Ride, one of whom had a vehicle that was "pimped" during the time that the location of the show was West Coast Customs, Jake Glazier (featured in Season 4