WILLIAMSPORT - The lawsuit between a former employee and a local roofing company has been settled in U.S. District Court, according to court documents.
According to the documents filed May 29, Jason Deitz, of Shamokin, received a $3,000 settlement in the case against Budget Renovations and Roofing Inc, of Shamokin, while three other employees received settlements of $500 each.
Now that the case is settled, Deitz will also receive another $2,000 payment from Budget for helping to negotiate the settlement.
The suit, filed by Deitz in April 2012 in U.S. Middle District Court in Williamsport, claims Budget failed to pay overtime and did not list the correct number of hours worked on pay stubs, which would be violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.
According to the complaint, the offenses occurred between April 17, 2009, and October 2011 while Deitz was working as a roofer. He had held the job since 2004. During that time, Deitz said Budget employed 40 people who were paid an hourly wage. The plaintiff wanted to make the case a collective action involving other employees.
Deitz said weekly pay stubs failed to list either the number of hours worked during the week or the hourly rates.
Since the action was filed, three other former employees, Eric Gallagher, Stephen Hornberger and Matthew Marcheski, joined the suit.
Before the case went to trial, Deitz's attorney at the time, Peter Winebrake, of Dresher, received word that the case had been settled without the attorney being involved.
According to Winebrake's motion, filed May 25, 2012, the attorney received a phone call from Deitz, asking him to withdraw the lawsuit. Further questioning determined that Searls had contacted Deitz and offered him money, without contacting Winebrake.
Later that day, Searls and Budget faxed a package of documents to Winebrake containing settlement agreements and a release from any future claims against Budget allegedly signed by Deitz, Gallagher, Marcheski and Rothermel, with the message on the cover sheet saying, "Jason Deitz asked us to fax this to you."
Winebrake later asked for and received an order to withdraw as counsel for the plaintiffs, but a ruling was made that the case could not be resolved until a determination was made that the settlement amounts were acceptable under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act
U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann ruled on May 29 that there was a dispute in the matter on the FLSA, since the defendants were paid lower wages than other employess, but Budget claimed the workers were laborers, not "roofers" according to Pennsylvania State Law, and thus paid the lower rate.
The judge then said the proposed settlement constitutes a fair and reasonable resolution to the case. That same day, Brann approved the settlement agreements and dismissed the action without costs and with prejudice to the right of either party. The judge retained the right to reinstate the action in 60 days if the settlement is not consummated.