Aiman-Smith & Marcy Wins $9.5 Million Class Action Judgment for Telecom Workers Following Trial

Aiman Smith & Marcy

Oakland, CA (Law Firm Newswire) March 16, 2021 – Aiman-Smith & Marcy, a leading law firm specializing in employment law, has obtained a $9.5 million judgment on behalf of approximately 640 workers in the telecom industry in California after more than 14 years of hard-fought litigation.

The lawsuit was filed in 2006 in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of telecom workers who performed installation and maintenance of cellphone towers and who were misclassified as contractors and who were owed overtime and meal and rest break pay dating back to 2002.

In 2013, Aiman-Smith & Marcy prevailed on appeal in an opinion that has since become an important landmark in wage and hour class action litigation, Benton v. Telecom Network Specialists, Inc. (2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 701. In 2019, Aiman-Smith & Marcy won summary judgment on the class members’ claims for unpaid overtime and missed meal and rest breaks. The court awarded $8.36 million in unpaid wages to the class of approximately 640 workers.

In 2020, after an eight-day bench trial before Hon. David S. Cunningham III, plaintiffs were awarded an additional $1.17 million in Labor Code waiting time penalties. Judgment was entered March 2, 20201. The defendants, Telecom Network Specialists, Inc., and Quanta Services, Inc., of Texas, are expected to appeal.

For more than fourteen years, the class has been represented by Randall Aiman-Smith, Reed Marcy, and Hallie Von Rock, of Aiman-Smith & Marcy, and by the Law Office of Jared E. Peterson. The lead plaintiffs are Lorenzo Benton and Curtis Walker.

“This case is an example of an employer engaging in a scorched-earth defense in the hope that the plaintiffs will tire over many years of protracted litigation. That we have prevailed after all these years is a testament to the resolve of our clients and the commitment of this firm to seeing a case all the way through to justice for the employees,” said Reed Marcy.

Parties seeking additional information can contact Aiman-Smith & Marcy at (510)817-2711.

Aiman-Smith & Marcy is a boutique law firm based in Oakland, California, specializing in employment law, consumer fraud, and class action lawsuits. Our lawyers work cooperatively, offering their unwavering commitment to protecting the rights of employees and consumers.