DOL Files Misclassified Employee Lawsuit Against Janitorial Co.

The United States Department of Labor has filed a misclassified employee lawsuit against an Oklahoma janitorial company.

They say that the cleaning company misclassified its employees as independent franchise owners rather than employees with the purpose of avoiding federal obligations.

Jani-King of Oklahoma claims that it sold cleaning company franchises to individuals.

However, the Department of Labor makes the case that Jani-King controlled all aspects of the businesses, and therefore, the franchisees should be classified as employees.

Jani-King of Oklahoma is affiliated with Jani-King International, Inc. based in Texas, but it was not named in the misclassified employee lawsuit. Jani-King International is the world’s largest commercial cleaning franchisor.

This misclassified employee lawsuit has been filed in federal court in the Western District of Oklahoma.

The franchise agreements allegedly included things like setting the cleaning rates, collecting payment and even reassigning cleaning contracts.

According to the Department of Labor, this constitutes employee status. In that case, says the Department of Labor, the employees in this misclassified employee lawsuit would be eligible for minimum wage and overtime as regulated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The misclassified employee lawsuit states, “Under such unilateral constraints, cleaners are not truly in business for themselves and instead are employees.”

The Department of Labor is seeking an injunction to make Jani-King of Oklahoma comply with the record-keeping provision laws set down by the FLSA.

According to this misclassified employee lawsuit, the Department of Labor believes the Oklahoma franchisees are in fact employees.

These workers were required to work jobs cleaning carpets, taking out trash and washing windows.

The main issue is that Jani-King has a great deal of control over the contracts, the lawsuit asserts.

Jani-King has total control over all aspects of the contracts, from setting the cleaning rates, to client relations as well as billing and payroll.

Also of note is that customers pay Jani-King of Oklahoma directly and then the company distributes the money to the workers.

Workers are also not called upon to use managerial or business skills and therefore should be classified as employees, according to the Department of Labor.

The Jani-King of Oklahoma “business model creates an employment relationship because it renders cleaners economically dependent on defendant rather than truly being in business for themselves,” according to the misclassified employee lawsuit. 

Betty Campbell, a regional administrator for the Department of Labor, said, “They were not in business for themselves – they were paying for a job, entirely dependent on Jani-King – a hallmark of an employment relationship. There are many legitimate forms of franchising, but this is not one of them.”

Another Misclassified Employee Lawsuit Against Jani-King

Jani-King of Oklahoma isn’t alone. In 2009, two plaintiffs brought a similar misclassified employee lawsuit against Jani-King of Philadelphia claiming they should be classified as employees. It was determined recently that the plaintiffs could pursue this case as a class action lawsuit.

The Jani-King Misclassified Employee Lawsuit is Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Jani-King of Oklahoma Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-01133-W, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

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