Latino restaurants are caught in a legal trap

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OPINION – Walk into a Latino-owned restaurant in California, and you will see more than a business. You will see families working side by side. From immigrant entrepreneurs who saved for years to open a small storefront, to third-generation owners who know their regulars, sponsor local youth teams, and hire neighbors who need opportunity.

Right now, many of those restaurant owners feel like they are under threat from every direction.

They are dealing with rising food prices, higher labor costs, and volatile insurance premiums. They are worried about their employees and customers – and often themselves or their family members – in a moment when immigration enforcement has become an ever-present concern in our communities. They are trying to keep their doors open while making sure their employees and customers feel safe inside.

On top of navigating all those challenges, many are being targeted by predatory lawsuits from unscrupulous trial attorneys accusing them of violating a 1967 criminal wiretapping law.

Imagine being a restaurant owner whose expertise is in cooking, staffing, and keeping the lights on. Imagine being handed legal papers alleging a “criminal” violation because of common website tools – often written not only in English, but using complex legal language, and filed in a courthouse hundreds of miles away.

Receiving paperwork accusing you of violating a criminal law is frightening. It feels personal. It feels dangerous. It feels like yet another system you are expected to navigate without support.

These lawsuits are becoming increasingly common. 3,000 have been filed in just the last two years, not to mention the tens of thousands of demand letters that have been used to shakedown vulnerable entrepreneurs.  A small group of mostly out of state trial lawyers are twisting the California Invasion of Privacy Act – a criminal wiretapping law passed in 1967, long before websites or online ordering existed – to get a payday out of small businesses like neighborhood restaurants and family-run establishments.

That is why SB 690 was introduced.

SB 690 closes the loophole that allows this criminal statute to be used against routine online activity. It clarifies that modern data privacy should be regulated under the California Consumer Privacy Act – a 21^st century law that has strong protections for sensitive information, including immigration data.

Let me be clear: SB 690 has nothing to do with immigration enforcement. Immigration data is already classified as sensitive personal information and protected under California law. SB 690 simply clarifies that enforcement of those protections occurs under the state’s modern privacy framework, not through a criminal statute that was developed before the internet was invented.

Most restaurants operate on thin margins. A sudden demand for thousands of dollars in settlement payments and legal fees can mean cutting hours, postponing growth, or closing altogether. The emotional toll is just as heavy as the financial one as restaurant owners worry about their reputations, their employees, and sometimes their own immigration status.

At a time when our communities already feel scrutinized and vulnerable, being targeted by a shakedown lawsuit about an alleged criminal technology violation unrelated to your actual work is overwhelming.

SB 690 does not weaken privacy protections. It preserves them while restoring fairness. It draws a clear line between real wiretapping and routine online activity so restaurant owners can focus on feeding their communities instead of defending themselves against claims they barely understand.

California can protect privacy and protect small businesses at the same time. Our restaurant owners deserve that balance.

Lilly Rocha is Chief Executive Officer of the National Latino Restaurant Association.