FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Linda Paris, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, 202-308-5186, [email protected]
Washington, DC – A group of Latino construction workers on a DC affordable housing project announced that they reached a $700,000 settlement of their wage theft lawsuit filed against The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and Krick Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc.
The workers were employed in constructing a mixed-use, government-funded development consisting of fifty affordable apartment units and a 6,000 square-foot arts center. Known as “EucKal,” the project consists of two parcels: 1724 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20009 and 1460 Euclid Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. EucKal received a subsidized loan of $16,278,810 through the DC Department of Housing and Community Development. The funds come from the DC Government’s Housing Production Trust Fund.
The workers were hired to install sheet metal and plumbing, and alleged that they were not paid the required wages, not paid correctly for overtime work, and improperly classified as independent contractors rather than employees. DC law makes general and intermediate contractors liable for lower-tier contractors’ violations of certain wage laws.
Wage theft happens when employers pay less than the required wage or do not compensate employees properly for working over 40 hours within a week. Wage theft is a contributing factor to the racial income gap. Latino workers are more likely to experience wage theft, especially in industries that are already marked by lower hourly salaries, unpredictable hours, and poorer working conditions.
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee and Murphy Anderson PLLC represented the workers. “WLC was proud to stand alongside our clients as they asserted their rights and demanded justice,” says Maddy Gates, Associate Counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee. “It is particularly egregious when we hear about wage theft in public projects aimed at alleviating poverty. Murphy Anderson was grateful to partner with WLC and support our clients’ efforts to reclaim their due wages,” says Mark Hanna, Partner at Murphy Anderson.
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs works to create legal, economic, and social equity through litigation, client and public education and public policy advocacy. While we fight discrimination against all people, we recognize the central role that current and historic race discrimination plays in sustaining inequity and recognize the critical importance of identifying, exposing, combatting, and dismantling the systems that sustain racial oppression.
Murphy Anderson PLLC is a Washington D.C.-based law firm representing workers, whistleblowers, and unions.