SC Man Claims SSA Cooper Misclassifies Stevedores as Exempt from OT Pay

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Marine and rail cargo terminal operator and staffing company SSA Cooper, LLC is facing a proposed collective action filed by a former worker who alleges the company improperly classified stevedores working at the Charleston Ports as exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The plaintiff, who the case says worked for SSA Cooper from August 2015 through August 2017, says his primary duties consisted of working with International Longshoremen Association (ILA) employees to load and unload cargo. The case notes that SSA Cooper chooses individual ILA supervisors, dubbed “headers,” who then hire from the union a “gang” to oversee. According to the plaintiff, the relationship between the defendant and stevedores under its charge is more indicative of that between an employer and employee, and not of an independent contractor ineligible for overtime pay. To that point, the lawsuit claims proposed collective members regularly work more than 40 hours per week, many times between 10 and 18 hours per day and sometimes tallying as many as 30 overtime hours per week, without being paid proper wages.

The complaint goes on to note SSA Cooper had an employment agreement with the plaintiff under which he and similarly situated workers would be paid non-discretionary “meal money” bonuses when they worked a certain number of hours during a shift. The lawsuit alleges the defendant never adequately explained or implemented this policy, which resulted in the stevedores not being compensated their rightful “meal money.”