Three carpenters involved in the revamping of an elementary and middle school in East Baltimore have reached a $150,000 settlement with the contractors they say underpaid them for months on a publicly funded project.
Federal court records show that the plaintiffs — Arnulfo Cabrera, Elmer Callejas and Yovani Gutierrez — entered into mediation talks at the end of June concerning their federal lawsuit against Tobar Construction, DC Construction and CAM Construction.
Per a memorandum filed last month in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, it was agreed that the carpenters will receive $135,000 in unpaid wages for their time renovating The Commodore John Rodgers School. They will also each receive $5,000 in incentive awards.
Once they are paid in full, the plaintiffs will have to withdraw their claims against the companies, a judge ordered.
“The settlement is a great victory for these construction workers,” Mark Hanna, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said Thursday. “It’s a cutting-edge case because it shows that companies have to classify employees correctly by the trade that they’re working. And on public projects, that’s a really important thing.”
Neither the construction companies nor the attorney representing them in federal court responded to a comment request Thursday.
Read the full story on The Baltimore Sun’s website.
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