Service installers sue for failure to pay wages

PROVIDENCE – Five local Cox service installers filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging that Cox Communications and one of its subcontractors failed to pay wages and overtime wages in violation of state and federal wage and hour laws.
The service installers, classified as field technicians, claimed that Cox and its subcontractor, M + M Communications, misclassified them as independent contractors for periods of time instead of as employees, in order to deprive them of wages and in violation of state law forbidding the practice.
The lawsuit also alleges that the workers were hired and targeted for exploitation, in whole or in part, based on their minority status, and the employers’ perception it was unlikely they would be aware of, assert, and/or seek a means of redress for the wage violations.
In response, Cox’s director of communications, Dana Alexander Nolfe, issued the following statement: “We don’t typically comment on pending litigation, but when plaintiffs’ counsel attempts to try his case in the media, we feel the need to respond. This case is clearly frivolous and we will fight it aggressively. Cox has a long history of treating our employees lawfully and with integrity and respect; to imply otherwise by positioning us as a co-employer is irresponsible and unsupported by legal precedent.”
The owner of M&M Communications could not be immediately reached for comment regarding the lawsuit.
Cox and M + M had previously been the subject of a similar federal lawsuit filed by installers in Connecticut in 2008, which was settled a year later.
The latest suit alleges that the installers were supposed to be paid based on a task-based point system, but they were frequently required to spend many hours performing other work for Cox residential and business customers without compensation.
The release also states that the workers were not paid for meetings, travel time, waiting time or for reporting to work on days where no work was assigned to them, or when they traveled to the home of customers who failed to show.
Attorney Richard A. Sinapi, of Sinapi Law Associates, who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement, “You could call this lawsuit ‘The Middle Class Fights Back’ because it seeks to strike a blow against unlawful employment practices that have been diminishing the wages of workers for years, and have become widespread since the Great Recession.”
“Employers who cheat workers of their hard earned wages not only harm the workers and their families, but also deprive the state of payroll and income taxes as well as sales tax revenues due to the diminished purchasing power of middle class families,” Sinapi said.
Juan Sigui, the lead plaintiff, said in a statement, “All we wanted was to be paid for the work we did. It’s not too much to ask an employer to pay you the money you are legally entitled to. I hope this lawsuit encourages other workers to come forward and assert their right to be paid for all the work they perform including overtime wages.”

No posts to display