Roto-Rooter Overtime & Illegal Wage Kickback Lawsuit Filed

NEW YORK, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Not all Roto-Rooter employees have been impressed by Rick Arquillatheir's, President and COO of Roto-Rooter, performance in Undercover Boss.  The law firms Pelton & Associates PC and Getman & Sweeney, PLLC announce that they have filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Chemed Corporation and Roto-Rooter Services Company ("Roto-Rooter"), one of the nation's largest plumbing repair and maintenance companies with over 110 company-owned locations.  The lawsuit was brought as a nationwide opt-in collective action consisting of all persons who are or were employed by Roto-Rooter from February 22, 2007 to date as service technicians who were not paid the minimum wage for all hours worked or overtime wages for hours worked in excess of forty hours per week.  On April 26, 2010, Plaintiffs filed a motion to conditionally certify the action as a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and to authorize notice to be issued to all other similarly situated Roto-Rooter technicians throughout the United States.

The Complaint alleges that Roto-Rooter failed to pay wages "free and clear" as a result of employee commission deductions for warranty work, and that the company illegally required service technicians to spend tens of thousands of dollars to purchase and maintain work vans as a condition of employment.  As a result of the failure to pay wages free and clear, and the illegal "kickbacks" and payroll deductions, plumbers routinely earn less than the minimum wage required by the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. sections 201 et seq.  Further, the Complaint alleges that service technicians performed "off-the-clock" work, of which the company was aware, for which they were not paid wages or overtime compensation.  The Complaint asserts that Roto-Rooter willfully violated the FLSA and seeks damages in excess of $5,000,000.00.

Join this Lawsuit

As with all FLSA cases, the statute of limitations continues to run against claimants until they join the lawsuit.  If you worked for Roto-Rooter under similar circumstances and would like additional information regarding this case, please contact Brent Pelton at (212) 385-9700 or Mike Sweeney at (845) 255-9370.  You may also visit www.peltonlaw.com or www.getmansweeney.com for additional information regarding this action.

SOURCE Pelton & Associates PC