LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Temporary Employment
Farmington, NM: (Mar-16-08) The Department of Workforce Solutions, a state agency, brought a lawsuit against the city of Farmington, NM, alleging that it underpaid workers who worked on its airport restaurant in 2007. The suit claimed that thirteen temporary workers from SOS Staffing worked on remodeling the airport restaurant. They were paid $9 to $12 an hour for hanging gypsum wallboards, doing electrical work and setting tiles at Four Corners Regional Airport.
The suit claimed that the wages paid were far below fair wages for the work under the New Mexico Public Works Minimum Wage Act. In its defense, the city of Farmington stated that the act applied only to outside contractors, not to the city itself, which acted as its own contractor to remodel the restaurant. Records show that following proceedings, Work and Hour Bureau Chief Rudy Maestas stated that the remodel was a public works project, paid for with taxpayer money, and was therefore not exempt from the fair wages law.
As part of a settlement reached in the dispute, the Department of Workforce Solutions ruled that the city of Farmington would have to pay $427,000 to resolve allegations. The settlement stipulates that the city owes the workers back pay ranging from $1,175 to $17,796, a fine of $100 a day per worker, and a contribution to the state's Public Works Apprenticeship Training Fund in the amount of $2,085. [LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS: STATE AGENCY RULES FARMINGTON UNDERPAID TEMPORARY WORKERS]
Published on Mar-17-08
The suit claimed that the wages paid were far below fair wages for the work under the New Mexico Public Works Minimum Wage Act. In its defense, the city of Farmington stated that the act applied only to outside contractors, not to the city itself, which acted as its own contractor to remodel the restaurant. Records show that following proceedings, Work and Hour Bureau Chief Rudy Maestas stated that the remodel was a public works project, paid for with taxpayer money, and was therefore not exempt from the fair wages law.
As part of a settlement reached in the dispute, the Department of Workforce Solutions ruled that the city of Farmington would have to pay $427,000 to resolve allegations. The settlement stipulates that the city owes the workers back pay ranging from $1,175 to $17,796, a fine of $100 a day per worker, and a contribution to the state's Public Works Apprenticeship Training Fund in the amount of $2,085. [
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