Wednesday, May 30, 2007 By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Illegal immigrants who worked long shifts scrubbing theme restaurants for an indicted janitorial firm are seeking unpaid wages in a federal lawsuit. Some of the plaintiffs were rounded up in federal raids in February and deported before receiving their final paychecks, the suit charges. Others said they worked 80- or 100-hour weeks for years without earning overtime pay or even the prevailing minimum wage. "People should be aware of the kinds of exploitative situations that are happening out there, in particular with immigrant workers," said lawyer Nadia Hewka of Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, who helped file the suit. "Someone who worked 80 hours a week should get paid fairly for those hours, no matter their immigration status." The 14 plaintiffs _ most from Mexico _ worked for Rosenbaum-Cunningham International Inc., a Palm Beach, Fla.-based janitorial contractor. In Philadelphia, the company placed workers in Dave & Buster's Inc., the restaurant chain that has a popular waterfront outpost. Other immigrants who worked in restaurants in Pittsburgh; New York; Anaheim, Calif.; and elsewhere are expected to join the suit as early as this week. They plan to seek class-action status but would have to recover any judgment from the government, which has seized the shuttered firm's assets, lawyer Justin Mixon said. Attorneys are trying to reach about 200 immigrants detained in the February raids, which targeted 63 restaurants in 18 states that used Rosenbaum-Cunningham workers. "Some of our clients were deported, some left voluntarily and some were not picked up at all," Hewka said. "The challenge right now is finding them." Rosenbaum-Cunningham and three top executives were indicted this year in Michigan on federal charges they harbored illegal immigrants for profit and failed to pay the federal government more than $18 million in employment taxes. The janitorial firm had contracts with well-known restaurant chains and took in as much as $10 million a year. The immigrants say they worked as many as 110 hours a week cleaning kitchens, washing floors and scrubbing toilets. Many were locked in at their work sites and most put in 11-hour days, seven days a week, without breaks, their lawyers said. They typically earned less than the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour or the higher minimum wage in Pennsylvania and other states where they worked, the suit charges. The workers may not have known about U.S. overtime laws or may not have had the energy to fight for the money they were owed, Mixon said. "You're aware people are taking advantage of you. You're just trying to feed your kids," he said. No lawyer has yet registered to represent Rosenbaum-Cunningham in the civil case, according to court records. Dave & Buster's said its contract called on Rosenbaum-Cunningham to follow applicable laws, its lawyer said. "We don't believe there's any liability of Dave & Buster's," lawyer Shannon D. Farmer said. "They are not the employer." But Mixon believes the Fair Labor Standards Act defines the term "employer" more broadly. "If someone else is supervising the work, telling this person what to do, they're on the hook for overtime and minimum wage violations," he said. Rosenbaum-Cunningham co-owners Richard M. Rosenbaum and Edward Scott Cunningham and firm controller Christina Flocken face criminal fraud, immigration and tax charges in the 23-count indictment.
Oh boy, theres gonna be a boatload of these lawsuits
Posted by: CJIS
I still can not see how they can use our court system like they do.
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