PHILADELPHIA – Former employees of a Bucks County landscaping business allege that they were not paid for all hours worked.
Hector Ayala Herrera and Ovidio Menendez Perez filed a complaint on behalf of all persons similarly situated on July 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Rolling Green Landscape and Design Inc. and Dominic J. Varalla Jr. citing the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Civil Rights Act.
According to the complaint, Herrera was employed by the defendants from 2013 to March 2016 and Perez was employed from 2011 to May 2017 as landscape laborers.
The plaintiffs holds Rolling Green Landscape and Design Inc. and Varalla Jr. responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to pay overtime wages to the plaintiffs at the rate of one-and-one-half times of their regular rate for hours worked that exceeds 40 hours per week. They also allege that they were discriminated against as non-white, Latino employees and were sexually harassed and assaulted by Varalla Jr.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek back pay damages, unpaid overtime compensation, unpaid wages, interest, liquidated damages, statutory damages, court costs and any further relief the court grants. They are represented by Liz Maria Chacko of Friends of Farmworkers Inc. in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-03176-NIQA