Some 245 truck drivers for a San Rafael construction company will share a $950,000 settlement from their boss Ghilotti Bros. over allegations of wage fraud for failure to pay them for hours spent loading and unloading trucks.
A federal judge has approved the settlement between Ghilotti and the 245 past and present drivers, as well as laborers for the company.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer signed the order approving the deal Tuesday.
The drivers and laborers will share $530,000, according to an account in the San Francisco Chronicle. The remaining $420,000 goes to attorney fees and court costs.
The named plaintiffs in the suit were Jose Ramirez, Luis Gomez and Marck Mena Ortega, who drove trucks.
The suit, filed in 2012, alleged the workers were discouraged from taking meal and rest breaks and truckers spent up to 90 minutes at the start of each shift loading and fueling company trucks and driving to worksites. But they were only paid for time spent at the site, nor were they paid for time spent on return trips.
In addition to the monetary settlement, the agreement calls for the company to set up procedures to allow employees to record starting and ending times.
Case: Ramirez v. Ghilotti Bros., No. 12-cv-4590CRB
TrialInsider.com 