SAN FRANCISCO –(October 3, 2012) –Yesterday, the national law firm of Baron and Budd filed a class action lawsuit against MHN Government Services, Inc. (MHNGS) and Managed Health Network, Inc. (MHN) regarding the misclassification of employees as independent contractors and the failure to pay those employees overtime. Filed in the Northern District of California, the case alleges that MHNGS and MHN violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by knowingly misclassifying workers to avoid paying lawful overtime wages. Baron and Budd attorneys Allen Vaught and Mark Pifko represent the plaintiffs in the case.

“These overtime violation issues are much more common than people think,” said Allen Vaught, head of Baron and Budd’s overtime violations/FLSA litigation section. “Many companies rely on the workers’ lack of knowledge when it comes to the FLSA and actively choose to misclassify workers in the interest of saving the business money by unlawfully dodging state and federal wage and hour laws, payroll taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and other state and federal requirements.”

MHNGS and MHN work at various U.S military bases as subcontractors to the United States Department of Defense. MHNGS and MHN hire individuals to work as Military & Family Life Consultants, or MFLC’s, in order to fulfill those governmental contracts.  Though the companies label MFLC’s as “independent contractors,” analysis of the workers’ job responsibilities revealed that the workers should be classified as employees under the FLSA. Because of this misclassification, the workers were not paid overtime even though they frequently worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Under FLSA definitions and exemption rules, these workers should have been considered employees and should have been paid overtime.

If you suspect that you, a friend or family member may have been misclassified by your employer as an independent contractor and were not paid all overtime wages required by law, please contact attorney Allen Vaught to learn more about your rights at 1.866.495.1255 or via email at avaught@baronbudd.com. Your initial consultation is free of charge and confidential.

Learn more about overtime pay violations, misclassification of employees, the FLSA and your rights in the workplace at http://baronandbudd.com/areas-of-practice/overtime-violations/.

The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Austin and Los Angeles, is a nationally recognized law firm with over 30-years of "Protecting What’s Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd’s size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals, governmental and business entities in areas as diverse as water contamination, Gulf oil spill, Qui Tam, California Proposition 65 violations, unsafe drugs and medical devices, Chinese drywall, deceptive advertising, consumer financial fraud, securities fraud and asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma. http://baronandbudd.com

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DALLAS – (September 25, 2012) – Last week, the national law firm of Baron and Budd filed a lawsuit against construction equipment rental company Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. regarding alleged violations of overtime wage laws. The plaintiffs, who worked in two of Sunbelt’s retail stores, claim that: Sunbelt did not pay them adequate overtime wages as required by law and forced them to work off-the-clock before or after a shift, required them to work after-hours in the Sunbelt’s 24 hour emergency services operation without pay at times, and improperly deducted pay for lunch periods when they performed work. Baron and Budd attorney Allen Vaught represents the workers in the case.

“Many workers do not realize that their employer is not paying them fairly,” said attorney Vaught, head of Baron and Budd’s overtime violations litigation section. “Employers cannot force, or even permit, workers to perform work ‘off-the-clock’ or during lunch breaks without pay. Sadly, this tactic is more common than people might think by employers in an attempt to save money on employee wages.”

Sunbelt Rentals is a national chain with more than 300 stores across the country. Though this lawsuit represents a violation at just two stores, it is likely that similar violations have occurred at other Sunbelt stores. After investigation, Baron and Budd has found that virtually every position at Sunbelt retail stores may be affected, including customer service representatives, dispatchers, assistant store managers and drivers.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), all hourly workers must be paid for all hours worked, including preparing equipment for the day or booting up their computers, and if the employer deducts pay for a lunch period, they generally must be given a full, uninterrupted 30-minute lunch period. If an employer violates the FLSA, workers can receive their unpaid back wages plus liquidated damages of double the amount owed. 

If you think that you, a friend or family member may have not been paid proper overtime wages while working for Sunbelt Rentals or believe your overtime wage rights are being violated by any employer, please feel free to contact attorney Allen Vaught at 1.866.495.1255 or via email at avaught@baronbudd.com.

Your initial case evaluation is free and confidential.

Get more information and the latest updates about the lawsuit on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SunbeltRentalsOvertimeLawsuit.

The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Austin and Los Angeles, is a nationally recognized law firm with a 30-year history of "Protecting What’s Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd’s size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals, governmental and business entities in areas as diverse as water contamination, Gulf oil spill, Qui Tam, California Proposition 65 violations, unsafe drugs and medical devices, Chinese drywall, deceptive advertising, consumer financial fraud, securities fraud and asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma. http://baronandbudd.com

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