The collective action lawsuit for wage and hour violations that was filed late last year against nationwide labor contractor Berry Bros. continues to move forward successfully. Berry Bros. is a nationwide construction contractor with offices located in Pecos, Texas; Berwick, Louisiana; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Meeker, Colorado. The company has projects in various states, such as Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
Recently, the Plaintiff requested that the proposed class of laborers, which includes mechanics, equipment operators, drivers, pipefitters, welders, electricians, and cement/concrete workers, be conditionally certified as a class in order to send notice alerting all potentially affected employees about the lawsuit and their rights. The case, which seeks to recover unpaid overtime for all non-exempt hourly workers of Berry Bros., has just had their motion for conditional certification and notice granted.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the lawsuit alleges that laborers were wrongfully denied their overtime compensation at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, which should include all forms of compensation, not just hourly pay. Specifically, Berry Bros did not factor in all compensation it paid its laborers when calculating the regular rate of pay for purposes of calculating and paying overtime. As a result, Berry Bros has significantly underpaid its non-exempt laborers for overtime hours worked.
The courts have defined the potentially affected class as all current and former non-exempt laborers employed by Berry Bros. over the last three years who received additional pay in the form of per diem payments and truck allowance pay. This potential class of laborers such as mechanics, equipment operators, drivers, pipefitters, welders, electricians, cement and concrete workers,and other laborers will be receiving notice of this lawsuit by all requested methods – U.S. Mail, email and text message – if they worked for the company at any point between November 2, 2015 and the present.
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP is very pleased to have had this motion granted as it will notify many hardworking employees of their rights and give them the proper information about their options in potentially recovering their hard-earned wages. If you or anyone you know has worked at Berry Bros. or a similar company in the industry, they may have a claim for unpaid overtime. Call Fitapelli & Schaffer for a free and confidential consultation at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website for more information.
You may also view the granted motion here.