Over 1,500 NSC Technologies workers that were assigned to work at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair are alleging that the companies failed to provide breaks and pay their full wages owed. The employees urged a California federal judge to preliminarily approve a $2.75 million settlement to resolve the proposed class and collective action.
In the motion to seek preliminary approval of the settlement, class counsel outlined that after fees, penalties and other costs, the total recovery for the NSC Technologies LLC workers assigned to work at the shipyard is anticipated to clock in at nearly $1.7 million, with an average payout of just over $1,000. Individual amounts are subject to change, contingent upon an employee’s amount of work weeks.
The proposed deal sets aside $100,000 for Private Attorneys General Act penalties.
Class counsel intends to seek up to $916,666 to cover attorney fees and urged the judge to approve the proposed settlement given the risks associated with continued litigation.
The deal is the latest to the proposed and collective action launched by plaintiff, Arthur Thompson, who was a welder at the shipyard.
Thompson filed the suit in January 2020 in San Diego County Superior Court and amended his complaint days later to add a PAGA claim. The lawsuit was removed to a federal venue one month later.
The lawsuit claimed that NSC Tech., a recruiting company for the shipbuilding and repair industry, violated California’s labor laws by failing to provide meal and rest breaks. The lawsuit also alleges that the companies failed to pay its workers appropriate wages for overtime hours.
This wouldn’t be the first deal that BAE Systems has struck over allegations of unpaid wages and missed lunch breaks.
In October 2017, a class of almost 2,000 ship workers requested preliminary approval for a $2.9 million deal that would resolve claims that BAE Systems violated California business laws when it failed to pay workers for dime spent disembarking ships, waiting in security lines and returning tools, as well as by causing them to miss 30-minute duty free unpaid breaks.