September 27, 2024
On Monday, September 16, the Public Justice Center’s Workplace Justice Project and Werman Salas filed a class and collective action lawsuit in federal court on behalf of two deconstruction workers—Manuel Portillo and Francis Betancourth—who allege that Second Chance, Inc., its owner, a subcontractor called 300 Painting and Remodeling LLC (300 LLC), and the subcontractor’s owner misclassified them as independent contractors and denied them their earned overtime and other wages. The suit also raises retaliation claims under federal and state law on behalf of Ms. Betancourth, who alleges that she was fired just a few days after the defendants received a demand letter sent by counsel on her behalf. We also filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday relating to the retaliation Ms. Betancourth alleges she faced.
Mr. Portillo and Ms. Betancourth did part of the core work of Second Chance’s operation: “deconstructing” homes in the mid-Atlantic area and beyond by removing furniture, flooring, cabinets, windows, fixtures, and other materials from residential properties to salvage such materials and prepare the properties for rehabilitation or demolition. The second paragraph of the complaint describes the Plaintiffs’ allegations:
Although Second Chance presents itself to the public as an “innovative social enterprise” that provides “livable wages,” it in fact engages in wage theft by depriving many employees, including Plaintiffs, of their hard-earned overtime pay and other required wages. Despite setting the terms and conditions of Plaintiffs’ employment, controlling nearly everything about their work including their work sites and schedules, and requiring them to wear Second Chance-branded vests and drive Second Chance-branded vans, Second Chance has sought to increase its revenues by funneling Plaintiffs’ work through 300 LLC—a subcontractor that, on information and belief, exists primarily to supply labor for Second Chance. Together, Second Chance and 300 LLC decided to illegally misclassify Plaintiffs as independent contractors and to deny Plaintiffs the wages required under federal and state law. In at least several instances, Defendant Foster personally hired Plaintiffs and then assigned them to work for Second Chance through 300 LLC, although these individuals did the same work done by deconstruction employees on Second Chance’s payroll. Defendant Foster also demonstrated his control over Plaintiffs by directing them to do landscaping and other work at his home and personally supervising their work—all while continuing to keep them off Second Chance’s payroll by paying them through 300 LLC.
What’s more, almost immediately after Plaintiffs sought in good faith to engage Second Chance and 300 LLC in pre-suit settlement discussions, Defendants fired Ms. Betancourth—the only Plaintiff still working for them—in violation of federal and state anti-retaliation protections.
The suit was covered in the Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore Banner. Our clients are incredibly brave, and it is an honor to represent them.
Thanks to everyone who has worked on the case, including PJC attorneys David Rodwin and Amy Gellatly, PJC paralegal Lee Woo Kee, former PJC attorney Monisha Cherayil, and Werman Salas attorney Sally Abrahamson.
