Settlement is latest in growing lawsuits over unlawful employment practices called 'wage and hour claims'

Chicago - Almost 500 mostly Latino janitors who cleaned UPS facilities, hotels, and other properties in Illinois and Texas have won a $1.2 million settlement in the latest in a growing number of lawsuits involving the failure of janitorial contractors to pay their employees according to federal overtime and minimum wage laws. The janitors, who will receive varying amounts up to $50,000 from the settlement, were employed by cleaning firms which contracted with UPS and other major corporations to provide services in Chicago, Dallas and San Antonio. Judge Amy St. Eve of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois approved the final portion of the settlement today.

According to the lawsuit filed with the assistance of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), janitors were misclassified as "independent contractors" and worked as much as 60 hours a week without being paid overtime. The janitors' employer also illegally stripped money out of the workers' wages to pay for insurance that provided little if any benefit to the workers.

Although UPS denied that it employed the janitors, the plaintiffs alleged that it exercised control over the janitors' working conditions and should be held accountable for the actions of its subcontractors. Including attorney's fees and the costs of administering the settlement, UPS paid over one and a quarter million dollars as a result of the litigation. The settlement is the latest in a growing number of lawsuits over unlawful employment practices, known as "wage and hour"claims, involving the practices of janitorial subcontractors of major U.S. corporations. Subcontractors are sometimes used by companies to avoid liability for unlawful practices.

"This settlement-and the others before it-shows irresponsible cleaning contractors can no longer get away with an 'anything goes' philosophy that drive workers and families deeper into poverty,"said Orrin Baird, SEIU Associate General Counsel. "More and more we're seeing major corporations being held accountable for doing business with unscrupulous employers."

In 2005, two thousand mostly Latino janitors in California won a class action settlement totaling $22.4 million-the largest settlement of its kind-involving the failure of janitorial subcontractors to comply with federal employment laws. The janitors involved in the lawsuit-also initiated by SEIU-were employed by subcontractors of the national supermarket chains Safeway, Vons, Albertsons, and Ralph's and received as much as $10,000 each as part of the settlement.

In Houston, locally-based cleaning firm Professional Janitorial Service (PJS) violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act by instructing janitors to work "off-the-clock"and unlawfully withholding-and in some cases failing to pay-wages due to janitors upon termination of employment, according to a collective action lawsuit filed in June 2006. PJS counts several high-profile corporations among its clients, including the Wedge Group and PM Realty. PJS also cleans the offices of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. If found liable, PJS could owe civil penalties and back pay to the plaintiffs and other current and former employees who have not received proper compensation. Hundreds of janitors could be eligible to receive back compensation potentially amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"When big corporations use subcontractors to subvert the law, it drives down standards for all hard-working people just trying to make a living and support their families,"said Valarie Long, National Director of the SEIU Property Services Division. "These lawsuits send a sharp signal to crooked employers everywhere that the workers of the world are watching-and we will not tolerate this kind of unlawful behavior."

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