FLSA Class Action Suit Filed Against ECM Energy Services

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

ECM Energy Services, Inc. and its owner are facing a class action claiming employees were not paid proper minimum and overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit claims the energy logistics and services company paid individuals working as “traffic employees” a flat day rate regardless of how many hours over 40 they worked in a week.

This class action ties into a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation in which the agency concluded that ECM owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid minimum and overtime wages to traffic workers employed nationwide between May 11, 2014 and January 1, 2016. When the plaintiffs and other potential class members began receiving letters from the DOL informing them of how much they were owed in back pay, the lawsuit claims, they were reportedly required by ECM to sign mandatory arbitration agreements.

The lawsuit contends these purported arbitration agreements are unconscionable and unenforceable because proposed class members were allegedly coerced to enter them as a condition of employment. Further, plaintiffs claim the arbitration agreements are null because they do not outline whether employees would be responsible for paying a portion of arbitrators’ fees.