Current Cases

A list of cases currently under litigation by the firm:

Doe v. Swift Transportation Co., Inc.

This lawsuit is brought as a nationwide collective action under the FLSA, and is brought as a class action under state contract law as well as various state payroll deduction laws, to remedy SWIFT and Interstate Equipment Leasing Co. treatment of truckers as "independent contractors" when, the plaintiffs claim, by law these truckers must be considered to be "employees." The independent contractor agreement is challenged as an unlawful contract by which Defendants together force truckers to work only for SWIFT for a very long time (though Defendants may fire them by cancelling the contracts at will). The lease and ICOA are challenged as "unconscionable" since defendants can terminate the contract at will and still make truckers make all remaining lease payments. The form contracts shift the business risks of the economic downturn to employees, makes the employees cover SWIFT’s costs for fleet inventory, insurance, tolls, taxes, and equipment, and makes the employees pay various fees to SWIFT that enable SWIFT to exact further profit from employees who cannot leave their contracts without crushing financial consequences. The arrangement helps SWIFT keep its workforce as virtual captives, undercuts the competition, avoids unions, evades unemployment and social security taxes, insurance, and permits SWIFT to charge its employees for expenses that must be borne by an employer.

The case is brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and will be tried to the Honorable U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis is also assigned to the case. Plaintiffs seek to recover the full panoply of expenses that Swift and IEL shift to its "owner operators" plus liquidated damages which may equal these deductions. The deductions for which plaintiffs seek recovery include truck lease payments, insurance, tolls, accounting fees, bond, equipment such as Qualcomm, etc. Plaintiffs seek unpaid wages, liquidated damages, interest, costs and attorneys' fees as well as declaratory relief under the FLSA and state wage laws.

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Stephan and Nickerson v. Michigan Microtech, Inc., Directech Holding Co., Inc., and DirecTV, Inc.

This case has been tentatively settled in principle, but subject to approvals by the named plaintiffs, the defendants, and the court. Individual participants in the case will have the opportunity to review the proposed settlement, upon a notice approved by the Court and will have the following options: to participate in the case, to object to the settlement, or to exclude themselves from the settlement.

Getman Sweeney is not presently able to give information concerning the proposed settlement to the individuals who opted into the case because a final settlement agreement has not yet been committed to writing and has not yet been preliminarily approved by any of the parties – named plaintiffs or defendants. No additional consents to sue will be accepted for filing in this case.

A settlement “administrator” will also be selected by the parties and will be available to give information about the status of the case. However, an administrator has not yet been selected.

As soon as a full agreement has been signed, the parties will approach the Court for a “preliminary fairness” determination – that is that the settlement is fair enough on its face to send a notice seeking comment from all participants. That notice will contain all the information participants in the case will need to evaluate whether to accept the settlement, to object, or request to be excluded.

Individual class members who filed a consent to sue are requested NOT to contact Getman Sweeney at this time, as no further information beyond what is stated here can yet be determined. We will be in touch as soon as there is sufficiently definite information to share.

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Laichev v. JBM, Inc.

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Melson v. Directech Southwest, Inc.

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Brumley v. Camin Cargo Control, Inc.

Nathan Brumley, a former field inspector with Camin Cargo Controls, Inc., brought this overtime pay case on behalf of a nationwide class of field inspectors who Defendant paid overtime under a half-time method called “Chinese Overtime”. The case challenges Defendant’s overtime pay practice, claiming that the half-time method violates the pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The case seeks back pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages and charges that Defendant must also pay the plaintiffs' costs and legal fees in bringing the suit. The case is filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and is pending before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares.

Class members include field inspectors that worked for Defendant and were paid overtime under the Defendant’s half-time or “Chinese Overtime” method.

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Zimmerman v. SunTrust Bank

This overtime pay case is brought on behalf of current and former Client Technical Support employees who were paid on a salary basis without receiving time and one half premium pay by defendant for work hours over forty in a work week. This case has now been filed as an arbitration under the American Arbitration Association. The arbitration demand is brought as a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) class action on behalf of all other non-supervisory CTS employees who signed arbitration agreements as part of their severance agreement with SunTrust. SunTrust initially paid the CTS employees on a salary basis without paying overtime premium pay. In October 2006, the company recognized its violation of the law and paid employees a partial payment of the back pay owed. SunTrust paid only for 2 years backpay using the 1/2 time method and then paid only for time recorded in the Primavera System, not for all hours actually worked. After making the change in October 2006, the company began paying CTS employees using a "fluctuating work week" or 1/2 time pay methodology. The plaintiffs in this case seek full back pay for all overtime hours worked in the last 3 years using the time and one-half method, as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages. The plaintiffs expect to argue that SunTrust did not correctly meet the requirements of the "fluctuating work week" and so cannot use this "half-time" method of paying overtime. In addition to backpay and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the suit claims that SunTrust will be obligated to pay attorneys' fees and costs for the plaintiffs' counsel as well. The American Arbitration Association has not yet ruled whether the case will be allowed to proceed on a class basis. Therefore, individuals who wish to have their claims heard in the case are urged to file a Consent to Sue form to join the arbitration. Individuals who wish to join the suit because they fit the class definition should contact one of the plaintiffs' counsel concerning joining the case. The plaintiffs in this case are being represented by Dan Getman of Getman Sweeney, Alan Garber of the Garber Law Firm, P.C. in Marietta, Georgia, Ryan Barack of Kwall, Showers, Coleman & Barack, P.A. in Clearwater, Florida, and Jason L. Gunter of Jason L. Gunter P A in Fort Myers, Florida.

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Bredbenner, et al. v. Liberty Travel, Inc.

On November 17, 2008, a former employee filed a nationwide federal lawsuit against Liberty Travel, Inc. and Flight Centre Ltd in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to recover unpaid overtime for Travel Agents. The lawsuit challenges Liberty Travel and Flight Centre’s failure to pay time-and-one-half overtime pay for all hours worked more than 40 in a week. The Plaintiff seeks unpaid overtime wages and “liquidated” or double damages. Any Travel Agent who worked for Liberty Travel in any state other than Pennsylvania can join the case. Travel Agents who worked in Pennsylvania should call us to determine if they are eligible to join.

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Riddle v. SunTrust Bank

This overtime pay case is brought on behalf of current and former Client Technology Specialist CTS-4 employees who did not supervise other CTS employees and who were paid on a salary basis without receiving time and one half premium pay by defendant for work hours over forty in a work week. This case is brought as a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) "collective action" on behalf of other CTS-4 employees. SunTrust initially paid the CTS employees on a salary basis without paying overtime premium pay. The plaintiffs in this case seek full back pay for all overtime hours worked in the last 3 years using the time and one-half method, as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages. The suit claims that SunTrust will be obligated to pay attorneys' fees and costs for the plaintiffs' counsel as well. The case is now pending before U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story, in the Northern District of Georgia. Individuals who wish to join the suit because they fit the class definition should contact one of the plaintiffs' counsel. The plaintiffs in this case are being represented by Dan Getman of Getman Sweeney, Alan Garber of the Garber Law Firm, P.C. in Marietta, Georgia, Ryan Barack of Kwall, Showers, Coleman & Barack, P.A. in Clearwater, Florida, and Jason L. Gunter of Jason L. Gunter P A in Fort Myers, Florida.

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Ayers v. SGS Control Services, Inc. and SGS North America, Inc.

The Claims Administrator, Garden City Group, confirms that settlement checks are being mailed to settlement class member participants on December 9, 2008.

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English v. Ecolab, Inc.

The case has been taken off the Court's active calendar. Plaintiffs should receive written notice of the case status in the next few months. If your contact information has changed since joining this case, please send your updated information to kweiss@getmansweeney.com.

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Montgomery v. TAP Enterprises, Inc.

Plaintiff Montgomery and other sales crew members bring this case for unpaid overtime and an equal amount of liquidated damages from defendant TAP Enterprises. Plaintiffs bring the case individually and on behalf of other members of defendant's traveling sales crew who worked throughout the United States. The case was originally filed in the Southern District of New York, but was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Judge Richard E. Dorr. There are currently 190 crew members who are plaintiffs in this case.

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Moreno v. BUREAU OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES and U.S.A.

Plaintiff was a former law enforcement officer assigned to six day per week training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. A variety of federal agencies used the facility for six day training. The practice of the U.S. was not to pay overtime pay at the rate of time and one half for the 6 weeks of training. The case is brought as a collective action on behalf of all individuals who did not receive proper overtime pay for their weeks at the training center. Since the U.S. government paid some individuals back pay, but not an equal amount of "liquidated damages" people who have already been paid back pay may still be due an equal amount in damages. The case seeks such damages as well as back pay. The case is currently pending in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the District of Columbia.

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Clark v. Ecolab, Inc.

Plaintiffs should receive written notice of the case status in the next few months. If your contact information has changed since joining this case, please send your updated information to kweiss@getmansweeney.com.

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Land v. Gaston County, North Carolina

*****NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT*****
This case is a class and collective action brought by 7 Emergency Medical Technicians employed by the County's EMS Division for themselves and on behalf of all other EMTs employed by the County. The employees claim that the defendant County failed to pay all EMT's overtime at the rate of time and one half. This case is brought in conjunction with co-counsel Robert J. Willis. The parties in the case have reached a tentative settlement. Judge Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina has ordered the plaintiffs to send a NOTICE to all EMTs who worked in Gaston County from April 17, 2004 through December 31, 2005 advising them of the settlement and the amount that they will be entitled to, if they choose to accept the proposed settlement. EMTs who wish to participate in the settlement must file a claim form with the attorneys, postmarked no later than August 21, 2007. The settlement will not take effect until the Court reviews and approves the settlement, which can occur no earlier than September 10, 2007. Information about how much each EMT will receive under the settlement is contained in the claim form which has been mailed on June 22, 2007.

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Manley v. American Home Mortgage Investment Co. & American Home Mortgage Co.

This is a federal overtime case brought on behalf of loan officers and senior loan officers who were paid on a draw and commission basis without payment of time and one half for overtime. The case is brought on behalf of a class of such employees as a "collective action" under federal overtime law and as a "class action" on behalf of a class of New York state employees under the New York state overtime law. Both claims are brought together in federal court. In addition to the claim for overtime, the case challenges the draw system as a minimum wage violation for those periods in which employees received only a draw. The federal minimum wage law requires that wages be paid "free and clear" to constitute wages and the draw payments to employees were subject to being recovered by defendants. This case is pending in the Southern District of New York.

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Manley v. The American Home Mortgage Company (Court Supervised Site)

Plaintiffs Patrick Manley, Freya DeNitto, Shawn O’Neil, Christian Kohl, Thomas Marinovich, et al., are former employees of AHM who have brought this action on behalf of all other current and former loan officers, senior loan officers, and team leaders who worked for AHM. Plaintiffs claim that they did not receive overtime pay for hours worked over forty in a workweek and are owed minimum wage for some weeks when their draw was recouped from commission.

Defendants deny any wrongdoing and/or liability to plaintiffs or any other past or present employee who may allege that he or she was underpaid. AHM denies that any employee was underpaid for his or her work at any time.

This lawsuit seeks the payment of minimum wages and overtime wages allegedly owed to current and former loan officer, senior loan officer, and team leader employees of the above defendants pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) and New York State Law (Labor Law § 652, as well as 12 NYCRR §§ 142-2.1 and 142-2.2). The lawsuit seeks payment of overtime and minimum wages if a) You worked for AHM for more than 40 hours per week and you were not paid overtime at time and one-half (1.5x) your normal hourly rate of pay for all hours actually worked over forty (40) hours each week; and/or b) You were paid a draw which was recovered by AHM by commissions you earned later.

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Treadway and Smith v. BGS Construction, Inc.

This is a Fair Labor Standards Act suit brought by two plaintiffs who worked in construction out of West Virginia, but travelling regularly out of state without compensation for the hours of travel. The case seeks back pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages. The case is brought in the Southern District of West Virginia. THE CASE HAS BEEN TENTATIVELY SETTLED. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS.

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Elmeshad v. GHT Petroleum, Inc..

Plaintiff Elmeshad was a convenience store cashier for a local Mobil On The Run franchise, who was not paid overtime at the rate of time and one half for all hours worked over 40. Plaintiff Elmeshad sought back pay plus an equal amount in liquidated damages plus costs and attorneys' fees from GHT Petroleum, which operates the Mobil On The Run in Hopewell Junction and Fishkill, New York. The case was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case was favorably settled on November 21, 2007.

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Young v. Cameron Corporation

This overtime case is brought on behalf of Product Design Specialists who were paid on a salary basis. The case claims that the employees were misclassified as exempt from the protections of the overtime law. The case seeks back pay, liquidated damages, costs and attorneys fees.

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Martinez-Hernandez v. Butterball, LLC

This case challenges the failure of Butterball to pay overtime and minimum wages to processing workers at its turkey processing plant in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Specifically, the plaintiffs charge that Butterball did not count all the time that the plaintiffs worked, including the time they spend putting on and taking off personal protective equipment, walking time within the plant, and break time. The case is brought as a collective action for claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and as a class action under the North Carolina Minimum Wage Act. Robert Willis is lead counsel in the case and will be assisted by Joel T. Alexander and Getman Sweeney as counsel attorneys. The case is to be tried by the Honorable Malcolm J. Howard.

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Masson v EcoLab, Inc.

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Gulino and Ferry v. Symbol Technologies, Inc.

The plaintiffs worked in Symbol's call center and claim they were not paid time and one half for overtime. The parties have inked a stipulation of settlement which will be presented to the Court for determination of its fairness.

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Davis v. JBM, Inc., DirecTV, Inc., Directech Holding Co., Inc., J. Basil Mattingly

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Ferry v. SGS North America, Inc., et al.

The Claims Administrator, Garden City Group, confirms that settlement checks are being mailed to settlement class member participants on December 9, 2008.

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Allen v. SunTrust Bank

This overtime pay case is brought on behalf of current and former Client Technical Support employees who were paid on a salary basis without receiving time and one half premium pay by defendant for work hours over forty in a work week, and who worked in positions that defendant reclassified as “non-exempt.” There are currently forty-seven individuals bringing this case, which is brought as a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) "collective action." SunTrust initially paid the CTS employees on a salary basis without paying overtime premium pay. In October 2006, the company recognized its violation of the law and paid employees a partial payment of the back pay owed. SunTrust paid only for 2 years backpay using the 1/2 time method and then paid only for time recorded in the Primavera System, not for all hours actually worked. The plaintiffs in this case seek full back pay for all overtime hours worked in the last 3 years using the time and one-half method, as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages. Plaintiffs believe that SunTrust will owe the plaintiff classmembers more than 9 times as much as SunTrust paid in backpay using the half-time method, without liquidated damages for only two years (though individual claims may vary). The suit claims that SunTrust will be obligated to pay attorneys' fees and costs for the plaintiffs' counsel as well. The case is now pending in the Northern District of Georgia. Individuals who wish to join the suit because they fit the class definition, are currently prohibited from joining the action, but should contact one of the plaintiffs' counsel concerning filing a separate case. The plaintiffs in this case are being represented by Dan Getman of Getman Sweeney, Alan Garber of the Garber Law Firm, P.C. in Marietta, Georgia, Ryan Barack of Kwall, Showers, Coleman & Barack, P.A. in Clearwater, Florida, and Jason L. Gunter of Jason L. Gunter P A in Fort Myers, Florida.

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Folkerth v. DirecTV

This consumer class action is brought against California corporation DirecTV for having levied undisclosed and unauthorized early cancellation fees against subscribers. The case is brought in the Western District of New York. It will be heard by Chief Judge Richard J. Arcara.

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Hubbs v. Liberty Travel et al.

On September 4, 2009, Leigh Anne Hubbs, a former employee, filed a nationwide federal lawsuit against Liberty Travel, Inc., Flight Centre Ltd., Gilbert Haroche, and Michelle Kassner in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to recover unpaid overtime for Travel Agents. The lawsuit challenges Defendants' failure to pay time-and-one-half overtime pay for all hours worked more than 40 in a week. Ms. Hubbs brings the claims as both a nation-wide collective action and a class action for Travel Agents that worked in New Jersey. She seeks unpaid overtime wages and liquidated damages. Any Travel Agent who worked for Liberty Travel in any state other than Pennsylvania can join the case. Travel Agents who worked in Pennsylvania should call us to determine if they are eligible to join.

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Connell, et al. v. Liberty Travel, et al.

On March 19, 2009, five former employees filed a nationwide federal lawsuit against Liberty Travel, Inc., Flight Centre Ltd., Gilbert Haroche, and Michelle Kassner in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to recover unpaid overtime for Travel Agents. The lawsuit challenges Defendants' failure to pay time-and-one-half overtime pay for all hours worked more than 40 in a week. THe Plaintiffs bring the claims as both a nation-wide collective action and a class action for Travel Agents that worked in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York. They seek unpaid overtime wages and liquidated damages. Any Travel Agent who worked for Liberty Travel in any state other than Pennsylvania can join the case. Travel Agents who worked in Pennsylvania should call us to determine if they are eligible to join.

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Morangelli v. Roto Rooter

On February 25, 2010, two former Service Technicians filed a nationwide federal lawsuit against Chemed Corporation and Roto-Rooter Services Company in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to recover unpaid wages for themselves and other Service Technicians. The lawsuit alleges that Roto Rooter did not pay the Plaintiffs’ wages free and clear, and unlawfully reduced their wages through paycheck deductions and requiring them to bear Defendants’ business expenses. The Plaintiffs also allege that they regularly worked unrecorded time of which the Defendants were aware and encouraged through their policies and practices. The Plaintiffs seek to recover unpaid minmum and overtime wages and the illegal deductions and business expenses they were required to bear. Any Service Technician who worked for the Defendants in the past three years in any state can join the case. To do so, you must fill out a Consent to Sue and return it to Getman & Sweeney, PLLC at the address listed on the form.

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