Eastern District of Virginia Court Approves Settlement in Arlington Housing-Project Wage-Theft Case
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia today approved the settlement of a wage-theft case filed by Murphy Anderson. The Complaint alleged that construction workers at the Unity Homes at Ballston project in Arlington were misclassified as independent contractors, were not paid for entire weeks of work, and were not paid earned overtime.
The Unity Homes Project, which opened in April 2024, is a $85 million development consisting of 144 affordable apartment units and commercial space. The Plaintiffs, HVAC and duct workers, alleged that the employers cheated them out of the wages they were due under federal and Virginia law, severely undermining their financial situations while they worked to build affordable housing for Arlington residents. Plaintiffs filed suit against the general contractor of the project (Davis Construction) and Charles A. Klein & Sons Inc. under an FLSA joint-employer theory and pursuant to Virginia law requiring contractors to be responsible for wages due by their subcontractors.
The settlement calls for Defendant Charles A. Klein & Sons Inc. to make payments to potentially dozens of workers who opt-in the case. The payments depend on the number of days they worked on the project. The Court also approved the payment of Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and expenses.
Mark Hanna, Nicole Rubin, Ricardo Perez, and Samantha Sloane litigated the case on behalf of the Plaintiffs.