Workers File First Lawsuit of Its Kind Against Minnesota Company for Violating Prevailing Wage Law
Lawsuit alleges that repeat offender has deliberately underpaid wages on state projects MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (December 20, 2007) – Three construction workers today commenced a public-interest lawsuit in Minnesota State Court (Blue Earth County) to enforce a law that protects the quality and safety of public construction projects by requiring contractors to pay the prevailing rate of wages and benefits to employees. The lawsuit against Cole’s Electric, Inc. of Owatonna, Minn. is the first ever in the state and one of the first in the nation. The Minnesota Legislature made this public-interest lawsuit possible when it amended the 34-year-old prevailing-wage law in 2007 to include a private-attorney-general provision. In so doing, Minnesota lawmakers have empowered workers to sue companies that compromise the public trust by not paying prevailing wages on state-financed projects. Brendan Cummins, an attorney with Miller-O’Brien-Cummins representing the workers explained that Cole’s Electric has previously been sanctioned by the State for failing to pay its employees what the law requires. “Cole’s Electric’s flagrant disregard for the law and the public interest is only one example of a much larger problem,” said Cummins. “The workers’ lawsuit is an important step toward restoring the public trust, protecting public safety, and ensuring high quality work on public projects.” The public-interest lawsuit (Kyle Krienke, Cory Martinson, and Jeremiah Johnson v. Cole’s Electric, Inc.), seeks to compel Cole’s Electric to comply fully with the law, to pay double the wages withheld from the workers, and to pay the workers’ attorney’s fees and litigation costs incurred in this case.
ABOUT MILLER-O’BRIEN-CUMMINS, P.L.L.P.
Miller-O’Brien-Cummins, a Minneapolis-based law firm, handles labor as well as civil rights and employment cases in Minnesota and across the country. Some of the firm’s landmark results include a ruling upholding the use of project labor agreements under Minnesota law (Queen City Construction, Inc. v. City of Rochester, et al., 604 N.W.2d 363 (Minn. App. 1999)), the largest pre-suit settlement in the U.S. of a sex-discrimination class action (Kosen, et al. v. American Express Financial Advisors, et al, D.D.C. (2002)). # Contact: Brendan D. Cummins (612) 333-5831, Miller-O’Brien-Cummins, P.L.L.P. , Ginger Sisco, Sisco Public Relations, Inc., 763-544-0629, 612-581-4272 cell, ginger.sisco@tela.com |
