Outten & Golden recently secured a $3.75 million workers’ rights settlement on behalf of the District of Columbia’s Office of Attorney General (OAG). This settlement, which includes $1.7 million in restitution to 1,200 harmed construction workers, is the largest recovery in a workers’ rights enforcement action in District history, according to Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb.
Working with the OAG’s Workers’ Rights and Antifraud Section, Outten & Golden represented the District in a wage theft lawsuit against national construction firm Power Design, Inc. and three co-defendants. Filed in May 2022, the lawsuit alleged Defendants unlawfully misclassified hundreds of construction workers as independent contractors, in order to deny them overtime wages and paid sick leave.
Under the terms of the settlement, Defendants will pay more than $1.7 million in restitution to more than 1,200 affected workers, as well as $1.2 million in civil penalties to the District. The agreement also includes broad injunctive relief designed to prevent Defendants from misclassifying their employees in the future.
Outten & Golden attorneys Christopher M. McNerney, Ryan C. Cowdin and Pooja Shethji represented the District of Columbia’s Office of Attorney General. The case is District of Columbia v. Power Design, Inc. et al, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.