BLS Painting, Inc. has just been accused of failing to properly compensate its laborers. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP alongside Shellist Lozarz Slobin LLP filed a collective action lawsuit on behalf of painters working for the Texas based painting service provider for unpaid overtime. This lawsuit seeks to recover overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) for painters, helpers, and other similarly situated workers (collectively “Painters”) who work or have worked for BLS Painting.
Despite considering its Painters as non-exempt employees that are entitled to overtime, BLS Painting has failed to pay them overtime at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay when working over 40 hours per week. Instead, they have allegedly paid all similarly situated Painters “straight time” for all overtime hours the company records. The complaint also claims that Painters went unpaid for work time completed before and after their time spent on the job site. Painters work in “crews” that first travel to a shop to prepare for their workday and also return to it after finishing at the job site. For instance, Painters arrive at the shop 1 hour to 1.5 hours before arriving at the official job site in order to load the day’s supplies and materials into the work vans, clean the work vans, organize the work vans, fuel them, and otherwise prepare for the day’s job assignments. Upon finishing their work at their assigned job site(s), Painters travel back to their shop location to unload the work vehicles and perform any other tasks as assigned by BLS Painting. This travel and unload time goes unaccounted for and uncompensated.
Unfortunately, this industry is often riddled by wage violations and laborers often lose out on hard-earned pay. If you or anyone you know works or has worked for BLS Painting in the last three years, they may have a claim. Call us at (212) 300-0375 to learn if you may be eligible to join this matter. Additionally, if you work in the industry and are experiencing similar issues, you may be owed wages. Call us for a free and confidential consultation or visit our website for additional helpful information.
You can also view the filed complaint here.