Dive Brief:
- A group of former employees has filed a class action lawsuit against U.K. contractor Balfour Beatty and its subcontractor, Fairfax, Virginia-based contractor C.J. Coakley Co.
- The lawsuit, filed March 5, alleges that Coakley engaged in wage theft from the plaintiffs, who worked on an apartment complex developed by Bethesda, Maryland-based JBG Smith in the National Landing area of Arlington, Virginia. Balfour Beatty was the general contractor on the project.
- The suit says that the plaintiffs were employed by Coakley and another construction firm, Colmex Contracting, which was not named as a defendant in the suit. The workers allege that they were frequently paid late, particularly starting after Dec. 1, 2023, and at times not paid at all.
Dive Insight:
The former workers are suing for violations of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Virginia Wage Payment Act, the Virginia Minimum Wage Act and the Virginia Overtime Wage Act.
When the plaintiffs worked overtime, they allege that they were not paid an overtime rate for the time worked beyond 40 hours, according to the lawsuit. They also claim that Coakley frequently paid them late or not at all, and has not paid them for a weeks’ worth of work they performed in February.
Balfour Beatty, the lawsuit claims, knew about payment issues. The filing points to a specific interaction on Feb. 9, when an employee allegedly told a Balfour Beatty supervisor that Colmex hadn’t paid its employees for work ending that week.
The three plaintiffs filed the suit as a class action, which would allow others in similar positions and standings, such as former employees on that project, to join in on the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that there are more than 40 similarly situated employees.
A spokesperson for Balfour Beatty told Construction Dive that the employees were hired by a second-tier subcontractor, which was employed by its direct subcontractor.
“We expect all of our subcontractors regardless of their tier to comply with all state and federal laws and to abide by their contractual obligations,” the company said in a statement.
On the project, the plaintiffs were allegedly told to consider themselves “a part of” Coakley, as the company provided them tools and equipment to do work on the site, per the lawsuit.
Coakley declined to comment, and a company listed as Colmex Contractors did not return a phone call for comment.
The plaintiffs are seeking owed base and overtime wages, plus interest and any other modifiers determined by state and federal regulations, along with any other additional awards the court bestows, per the suit.