AAI Pilots File Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit

AAI Corp., a company that manufactures unmanned drone airplanes, is facing a federal wage and hour class action lawsuit for failing to pay overtime to some of its employees.

The potential class action lawsuit was filed by two AAI California employees — one current and one former employee —  who argue that the aircraft corporation falsely classifies pilots who operate the unmanned airplanes from the ground as employees who are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and California wage and hour laws.

The AAI employee lawsuit was filed on May 13, 2013, in the U.S. District Court of Baltimore by Eric Trembly of Simi Valley and John Keenon of Lancaster, California.

Trembly still works for AAI as an Extended Range Multi-Purpose Program pilot. Keenon also worked as an ERMP pilot until he left his job in 2012, according to the wage and hour lawsuit.

The two AAI employees are seeking class action status for all other AAI employees who argue that they too were not paid deserved overtime.

This is not the first time AAI has been hit with a wage and hour lawsuit by employees. AAI paid a total of $1.6 million last year to settle three wage and hour lawsuits, even though they did not admit liability.

Those lawsuits were filed in Baltimore, Washington State and Alabama.

The plaintiff in the Baltimore lawsuit claimed that AAI failed to pay for overtime to field service engineers who worked in maintenance and repair for AAI’s unmanned surveillance aircraft.

According to Steven Kaminshine, who is the dean of Georgia State University College of Law and is also an expert in labor and employment law, wage-and-hour lawsuits that violate the Fair Labor Standards Act are “very fact dependent.”

“A common area of dispute under the Fair Labor Standards Act turns on employee status — whether it be the particular status at issue in this case, or the question of whether the individual is appropriately classified as an employee or an independent contractor, salaried employee or hourly employee,” he said. “Many of the different classifications under the FSLA are determinative of receiving the protections of the statute.”

If you did not receive all the money you earned due to unpaid overtime, legal options are available to you. Learn more and get a free consultation regarding a claim’s eligibility at the Wage & Hour Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Experienced legal professionals are able to determine if you have a case. You could receive back pay as well as penalties, so act now.