A Pennsylvania landscaping company recently agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by its employees alleging failure to pay overtime wages.
Brightview Landscapes was sued by a class comprised of 839 workers who claimed that they did not receive the overtime compensation required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the wage and hours provisions of the FLSA, non-exempt employees must be paid at a rate of at least one and a half times their regular hourly rate for all hours over 40 worked in a given week.
In granting final approval of the settlement in Acevedo v. Brightview Landscapes, U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion recognized that the employees’ lawsuit not only resulted in their receiving compensation to which they were entitled, but also that “the defendant has changed its method of computing overtime compensation.” Thus, the judge continued, “the benefits of this settlement reach beyond the settlement itself …” and “furthers the purpose of the FLSA to protect workers and ensure they are paid appropriately.”
