Iraqi, Afghan Military Trainees Reach $3M Wage and Hour Settlement

An unpaid overtime class action lawsuit filed in a California federal court recently reached a $3 million settlement resolving allegations that Tatitlek Support Services Inc. and GeoNorth LLC violated California wage and hour and overtime laws.

The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit was brought by Afghan and Iraqi immigrants who were hired to play roles in various combat training simulations at the U.S. Marine Corps base. The plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit claim that the class involves 2,250 workers.

The wage and hour class action settlement was reached after a long discovery and mediation process. The lawsuit was first filed back in 2015 in California State court but was later transferred to federal court.

According to the lawsuit, the actors allege that they were improperly paid by the defendants for periods of time that they spent on the U.S. Marine Corps base, while they were sleeping or not working.

Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit for Actors

The lawsuit alleges that although the actors were paid for the time they spent working, which included payment for overtime hours, the actors are asking for back pay for time they were forced to remain on the Marine base while the defendants helped the Marines conduct training exercises.

In the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that they were required to live in manufactured villages that lacked running water and electricity.

The actors stayed in these villages throughout the duration of the missions which generally lasted between four and seven days. According to the plaintiffs, during the missions the actors were allowed to sleep between 10pm and 4am, but during those hours their sleep was often disturbed by other training combat exercises for the Marines.

Unfair Compensation

According to the wage and hour lawsuit, the plaintiffs complained to their employers about being unfairly compensated for their sleeping hours. In response to their complaints, the actors alleged that the employers informed the actors that they could choose to decline work on any combat training missions but once a mission had begun the actors were not allowed to leave the training base.

The three million dollar settlement will provide an average of $751 per actor involved in the lawsuit. Some actors who have already received a favorable judgment from the California Division of Labor Standards will receive additional compensation.

The original named plaintiffs will also likely receive a $5,000 additional bonus from the settlement.

The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit alleges the defendants violated the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and California overtime laws.

California labor overtime laws require workers be paid time and a half for every hour worked over 8 hours in a day over 40 hours in a week. Federal overtime laws require employers to pay employees who do off the clock work. This includes time waiting for work.

Employees who believe they are owed unpaid overtime pay may be able to join an unpaid overtime class action lawsuit. Successful plaintiffs may receive compensation for their time.

The case Faiz Nur et al. v The Tatitlek Corp. Inc. et al., case number 5:15-cv-00094 was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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