The complaint alleges that Caliper contracts with labor brokers to staff construction projects with labor.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, March 06, 2020 /Neptune100/ — On March 4, 2020, a construction worker initiated a putative collective and class action lawsuit against Caliper Building Systems, LLC (“Caliper”), JMC Contracting, LLC, and José Merino (“Defendants”) to recover unpaid overtime compensation.
According to its website, Caliper functions as a subcontractor providing installed material packages for commercial, multifamily, and military construction projects throughout the Midwest and Western United States. Its scope of work includes framing, siding and trim, and roofing. According to the Complaint, Caliper contracts with labor brokers to staff construction projects with labor. Caliper pays workers through these brokers, one of which is JMC Contracting, LLC.
The Complaint alleges that Defendants did not pay laborers a time-and-a-half overtime premium when they worked overtime hours as required by law. Instead, they paid them a straight hourly rate for their time worked.
The case is filed as a putative collective action under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and a class action under Minnesota state law, on behalf of all hourly-paid laborers who worked for Caliper Building Systems through JMC Contracting and/or José Merino, within the past three years. The case seeks to recover for the workers unpaid overtime compensation and liquidated (double) damages.
Michele Fisher, a partner with Nichols Kaster, PLLP representing the workers, explained, “there is a serious problem in the construction industry with companies that try to outsource their responsibility for compliance with fair pay laws. This is not only unfair to the workers but is also unfair to the responsible contractors being undercut by low bids from companies that skirt the worker protection laws. We aim to hold them accountable for the wages owed to these workers. This practice was brought to our attention by the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, a union dedicated to protecting and elevating the economic and social condition of workers.”
The workers are represented by Michele R. Fisher and Jay E. Eidsness of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, which has offices in Minnesota and California. The case is, Padilla et al. v. Caliper Building Systems, LLC, JMC Contracting, LLC, and José Merino, Case No. 0:20-cv-00658 (District of Minnesota).
Additional information about the case and how workers can make a claim can be found at www.nka.com or by calling Nichols Kaster, PLLP toll free at (612) 256-3200.
Nichols Kaster, with more than thirty lawyers in offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco, represents employees and consumers in individual, class, and collective action lawsuits throughout the country. The firm has recently received a First Tier ranking on the 2020 Best Law Firms List in Minneapolis for Litigation-Labor and Employment by U.S. News-Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms.”
