Home » Court Decisions » California Federal Jury Awards Property Management Workers $2 Million in Class Action Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
California Federal Jury Awards Property Management Workers $2 Million in Class Action Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES — A federal jury in California recently handed down a significant award to 11 former workers for a property servicing company accused of intentionally misclassifying workers as independent contractors to avoid paying overtime and other benefits. The verdict came in the first of a series of miniature trials to determine the damages for approximately 200 workers who joined the class action lawsuit against the defendant, Field Asset Services Inc (FAS).
The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit, originally filed in 2013 in U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California, claimed FAS shortchanged hundreds of workers in overtime wages by purposely misclassifying these employees as "independent contractors." Under federal and state wage laws, only certain types of workers are overtime exempt, independent contractors being one of them since these individuals are supposed to be in business for themselves and are free to make important decisions.
After the judge hearing the case certified the lawsuit as a class action, the defendants engaged in an extended period of litigation in an attempt to decertify the class and force individual workers to bring suit one at a time against FAS. However, that bid was denied by the trial judge and surprisingly granted over 150 of the workers partial summary judgement, holding that these claimants were in fact bona fide employees of the company and therefore due back wages.
FSA in turn argued the damages to the plaintiffs were to diverse to determine in a single jury trial and asked that a series of smaller jury trials be held to determine damages for segments of the class. The recent $2 million jury award was the first result of these series of trials, with each of the 11 claimants expected to receive anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 after court costs and attorney's fees are deducted. There is no word as of yet whether the defendant plans to appeal the verdict or settle the remaining cases.
Independent Contractor Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
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