NEW ORLEANS – Four Orleans Parish men are suing their former employer, Absolute Lawn Care, for allegedly not paying overtime.
Tony Bridges, Jonas Theophile, Derek Chairs and Juan Calderon filed a class-action lawsuit Jan. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Absolute Lawn Care LA LLC, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Louisiana Wage Payment Act. The plaintiff class includes workers similarly situated to the defendants who worked for Absolute in the past three years.
According to the complaint, the four plaintiffs worked as landscapers for the defendant, regularly working more than 40 hours a week but allegedly receiving no overtime pay. In addition, the plaintiffs claim Absolute Law Care deducted penalties from their pay for tardiness or damage to tools, equipment and customer property, which has the effect of reducing their pay rate.
The plaintiffs seek a jury trial and recovery of their unpaid wages, punitive damages and litigation costs. They are represented by attorney Christopher L. Williams of Williams Litigation LLC in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:16-cv-00448