Gutierrez, et al. v. Schmid Insulation Contractors Inc., et. al.
Case Number: 08-CV-6010 DSF
On March 10, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer of the Central District of California granted final approval of a class action settlement involving construction workers who were allegedly not paid for all their time at work. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of over 3,000 current and former California employees, and alleged violations of California's wage and hour laws, including failure to pay for overtime, failure to pay for time driving to and from company-assigned work sites, failure to pay for time performing administrative tasks, and making unlawful deductions from employees' paychecks. The defendants denied any liability.
The settlement resolved all of the named plaintiffs' and affected employees' wage claims against defendants in exchange for an $8.5 million payment.
The class, as finally approved by the Court, included current and former California installers who worked for Western Insulation, L.P., at any time from October 13, 2002, to September 30, 2008; for Schmid Insulation Contractors, Inc., from October 13, 2002, to December 31, 2007; and for Masco Contractor Services of California, Inc., at any time from January 1, 2008, until September 30, 2008.
As part of the settlement, affected current and former employees were entitled to monetary compensation from a common settlement fund. The class members received their checks by mail, without having to fill out any claim forms.
Sullivan Taketa LLP, along with co-counsel, represented the class of construction workers. For more information, please contact Donn Taketa or Joel Villaseñor, view the press articles about the case and the settlement, or review the case documents listed below:
- Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement (PDF)
- Preliminary Order Approving Class Action Settlement (PDF)
- First Amended Complaint (PDF)
Press Articles - English
"In a major legal win for immigrant workers, thousands of California construction workers will start receiving checks April 15 to compensate for unpaid wages and other alleged labor violations committed during California's housing boom.
The $8.5 million legal settlement benefits nearly 3,100 former and current workers for several companies that built houses in Southern California, the Central Valley, Central Coast and San Francisco East Bay."
"The $8.5 million settlement of a class action lawsuit on behalf of mainly Hispanic construction workers in California will set a precedent, the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund said."
- Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2009, "Construction workers win $8.5-million settlement," by Joanna Lin
"Thousands of mostly Latino workers will share in an $8.5-million settlement with a national construction firm they had accused in a class-action lawsuit of violating California's wage and hour laws, attorneys in the case said...."
"In what is believed to be one of the state's largest class actions involving wage claims by Latino workers, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and civil rights lawyer Bill Lann Lee will join the lawsuit, which was first filed...by the Westlake Village firm of Sullivan Taketa against Masco Contractor Services Inc. and its California subsidiary Schmid Insulation Contractors Inc."
