Firms Sued Over Alleged Wage Violations

The lawsuit against GEA Mechanical Equipment US, Inc. is currently pending in the Stanislaus County Superior Court of California. The legal complaint alleges that the company failed to pay its employees accurate wages by not providing proper off-duty meal and rest breaks. Specifically, the suit claims that GEA Mechanical Equipment did not consistently provide the legally required 10-minute rest periods for every four hours worked. The complaint also alleges that the company utilized a "rounded" timekeeping system, which resulted in employees being paid less than their actual recorded work time. In California, non-exempt employees are generally entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break if they work more than five hours in a day. They are also entitled to a second 30-minute meal break if they work more than 10 hours. Failure to provide these breaks can result in the employer being required to pay the employee an additional hour of pay for each day a meal break is not provided. The lawsuit against Veracity Research Co., LLC, which is pending in the Orange County Superior Court, centers on similar allegations of failing to provide legally mandated meal and rest breaks. This failure, the suit claims, led to the underpayment of wages as employees' time was not accurately recorded. California labor law also dictates overtime pay for non-exempt employees. This includes one-and-a-half times the regular rate of pay for work exceeding eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. The rate increases to double the regular pay for work that goes beyond 12 hours in a single day or more than eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. The law firm representing the employees in both cases, Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, specializes in employment law and has a history of filing class-action lawsuits against companies for alleged violations of the California Labor Code and the Fair Labor Standards Act.