ALEXANDRIA – An air security officer has filed a class-action lawsuit against a company with operations in Alexandria over allegations of labor code violations.
Hayward Dean, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on April 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Alexandria Division against Akal Security Inc. alleging that the New Mexican subcontractor violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant has a company policy of docking one hour of pay on return flights for a lunch break. The plaintiff alleges he and other air security officers did not get to take these breaks. The plaintiff holds Akal Security Inc. responsible because the defendant also allegedly did not pay regular wages for the hours worked that were improperly deducted for the forced lunch break and failed to pay overtime wages.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks damages for unpaid minimum and overtime wages, liquidated damages and all other relief that the court deems appropriate. He is represented by James Sudduth III of Sudduth & Associates LLC in Lake Charles and Matthew Sarelson of Kaplan Young & Moll Parrón PLLC in Miami.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Alexandria Division Case number 1:17-cv-00543