Trial Magazine

After South Carolina Energy and Gas and utility company Santee Cooper halted construction at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant in July 2017, thousands of contract workers lost their jobs without notice. Approximately 75 workers filed a class action against Fluor Enterprises, the leading construction contractor for the project, seeking damages arising out of the defendant’s failure to provide 60 days’ notice, as required under federal law. During the investigation phase of the lawsuit, it was revealed that Fluor had withheld overtime pay for some of its employees for extended time periods.

The plaintiff-workers brought another suit against Fluor Enterprises, alleging it violated the Fair Labor ­Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §201 et seq., and state law. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant had failed to pay overtime wages totaling approximately $1.1 million and refused to rectify pay miscalculations after workers raised concerns about incorrect pay.

The parties settled for $1.1 million.

Citation: Preston v. Fluor Enters., Inc., No. 0:17-cv-02184-MGL (D.S.C. July 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members William Applegate IV, David Yarborough Jr., and Christopher Bryant, all of Charleston, S.C.; and Amy Gaffney, Columbia, S.C.