3 Latino workers sue Auburn firm

Three Latino construction workers who helped build homes throughout the Puget Sound area claim in a lawsuit that they were routinely cheated out of overtime pay and were required to work off the clock and to make cash "rebates" from their wages back to their employer.

In the suit against Auburn-based Precision Drywall, the three allege the company violated state labor laws by engaging in a "systematic scheme of wage and hour abuse" against them and other construction workers, most of whom are Latino and believed to be undocumented.

But a Precision Drywall owner said the workers are disgruntled former employees, two of whom were laid off because of lack of work in a weakening housing market. The third one, he said, was fired for routinely showing up late for work and then leaving early to operate his carpet-cleaning business.

The lawsuit comes at a time when the construction industry has laid off thousands across the country, many of them illegal immigrants who in recent years have found lucrative employment in the building trades.

And it raises questions around the vulnerability of such workers — a key claim for advocates in calling for immigration reform.

Attorneys are seeking class-action status for the case brought by the three workers, Isaias Ramirez, Mario Hernandez and Gilberto Mendoza.

"There's a basic minimum treatment that all people who work in the state of Washington deserve, regardless of their immigration status, and it was not being given here," said Matthew Van Giesson, a Kent attorney helping to represent the workers.

"These workers were getting less income and lower levels of pay because of these practices. ... And if no one raises a voice, nothing will change."

Precision employs dozens of people, mostly Latinos, who do drywall work throughout the Puget Sound area, primarily for Quadrant Homes, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser.

The three who sued were laid off over the last several months, and they allege they were forced to work seven days a week and late nights to meet deadlines during the building boom. They claim Precision often didn't pay them for all their work and refused them proper rest and meal breaks.

Additionally, they said, they were required to make a cash-rebate payment of about $150 each pay period to a group leader, money they believe went to help pay for company vehicles, cellphones and other equipment.

Jim Lea, an owner of Precision, called the claims unfounded and challenged the former workers to name those who demanded such cash rebates. Precision provides all its employees with safety equipment such as hard hats and goggles, while the workers supply their own personal equipment such as tapes and utility knives.

"We hand them a paycheck every two weeks; I don't know what they do with their money, but they're not rebating it to anyone in my office," Lea said.

Lea said the local home-construction industry has seen the kind of slowing that has occurred elsewhere in the country. "We're doing 60 percent of the work we were doing just a year ago," he said. "We've had to lay off a lot of people — 30 to 40 percent of our work force."