On May 27, 2023 Handley Farah & Anderson filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of a group of construction workers who are former employees of Dulles Drywall, Inc. and Charmin Construction. The lawsuit is against Dulles Drywall, Charmin Construction, and Fabian Gonzalez and alleges that the workers’ employers failed to lawfully compensate them for work done at a construction project at a Microsoft Data Center in Leesburg, Virginia.
One form of wage theft, which the lawsuit also alleges has occurred, is known as worker misclassification. Worker misclassification is a form of payroll abuse where workers that should be classified as employees are illegally classified as independent contractors. By misclassifying workers, employers deny employees their lawful wages and benefits while simultaneously underfunding social insurance programs like Social Security, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation.
The lawsuit further alleges that these workers were not paid legally required overtime premiums and at times were not paid at all for their work.
Matthew Handley, one of the attorneys representing the workers, commented: “Unfortunately, we frequently see contractors in the local construction industry failing to pay workers their lawfully owed wages. This lawsuit, and others like it, are necessary to ensure workers are compensated workers and to deter other contractors from violating wage and hour laws.”
If you have any questions concerning this case, please contact Matthew Handley, at 202-559-2411 or [email protected]. A copy of the complaint can be found here