Diverse News 2007®

Janitors Win More than $1 Million in Lost Pay

Settlement is latest in growing lawsuits over unlawful employment practices
                       called 'wage and hour claims'

    CHICAGO, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Almost 500 mostly Latino
janitors who cleaned UPS facilities, hotels, and other properties in
Illinois and Texas have won a $1.2 million settlement in the latest in a
growing number of lawsuits involving the failure of janitorial contractors
to pay their employees according to federal overtime and minimum wage laws.
The janitors, who will receive varying amounts up to $50,000 from the
settlement, were employed by cleaning firms which contracted with UPS and
other major corporations to provide services in Chicago, Dallas and San
Antonio. Judge Amy St. Eve of the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois approved the final portion of the settlement
today.
    According to the lawsuit filed with the assistance of the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU), janitors were misclassified as
"independent contractors" and worked as much as 60 hours a week without
being paid overtime. The janitors' employer also illegally stripped money
out of the workers' wages to pay for insurance that provided little if any
benefit to the workers.
    Although UPS denied that it employed the janitors, the plaintiffs
alleged that it exercised control over the janitors' working conditions and
should be held accountable for the actions of its subcontractors. Including
attorney's fees and the costs of administering the settlement, UPS paid
over one and a quarter million dollars as a result of the litigation. The
settlement is the latest in a growing number of lawsuits over unlawful
employment practices, known as "wage and hour" claims, involving the
practices of janitorial subcontractors of major U.S. corporations.
Subcontractors are sometimes used by companies to avoid liability for
unlawful practices.
    "This settlement -- and the others before it -- shows irresponsible
cleaning contractors can no longer get away with an 'anything goes'
philosophy that drive workers and families deeper into poverty," said Orrin
Baird, SEIU Associate General Counsel. "More and more we're seeing major
corporations being held accountable for doing business with unscrupulous
employers."

    In 2005, two thousand mostly Latino janitors in California won a class
action settlement totaling $22.4 million -- the largest settlement of its
kind -- involving the failure of janitorial subcontractors to comply with
federal employment laws. The janitors involved in the lawsuit -- also
initiated by SEIU -- were employed by subcontractors of the national
supermarket chains Safeway, Vons, Albertsons, and Ralph's and received as
much as $10,000 each as part of the settlement.
    In Houston, locally-based cleaning firm Professional Janitorial Service
(PJS) violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act by instructing janitors
to work "off-the-clock" and unlawfully withholding -- and in some cases
failing to pay-wages due to janitors upon termination of employment,
according to a collective action lawsuit filed in June 2006. PJS counts
several high-profile corporations among its clients, including the Wedge
Group and PM Realty. PJS also cleans the offices of Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Texas. If found liable, PJS could owe civil penalties and back pay to
the plaintiffs and other current and former employees who have not received
proper compensation. Hundreds of janitors could be eligible to receive back
compensation potentially amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
    "When big corporations use subcontractors to subvert the law, it drives
down standards for all hard-working people just trying to make a living and
support their families," said Valarie Long, National Director of the SEIU
Property Services Division. "These lawsuits send a sharp signal to crooked
employers everywhere that the workers of the world are watching -- and we
will not tolerate this kind of unlawful behavior."
    With 1.9 million members, SEIU is the largest and fastest-growing union
in North America and the largest property services union, representing more
than 250,000 security officers, janitors, and other maintenance and
custodial workers.

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