Saying they've been exploited, eight Latinos sue drywall company

Eight unidentified Latinos filed a class-action lawsuit in a federal court Monday alleging exploitation and labor violations by a Twin Cities drywall company that has worked on the Mall of America and several condominium projects.

The defendants are Mulcahy Inc., Mulcahy Development and the Mulcahy Family Limited Liability Limited Partnership, all based in Mahtomedi, and Gary T. Mulcahy Sr., of Oakdale.

Identified only as "John Does," the plaintiffs claim they were among a class of Latino workers paid below minimum wage, required to work overtime at a substandard rate, denied economic and health benefits, and denied work breaks.

The Minneapolis law firm Miller O'Brien Cummins is seeking court approval to use pseudonyms for the plaintiffs.

They want the pseudonyms until protective orders can be put in place because they fear retaliation. The pleadings allege that "threats of severe bodily harm and other reprisals have already been threatened or occurred."

The Mulcahy defendants deny all of the allegations.

Bill O'Brien, a partner in the law firm, said the alleged abuse has been going on for at least a year. "The crews that are being exploited are exclusively Latino crews," he said.

"They have hired what in effect are Latino bosses, and the Latino bosses recruit in the Latino community. And they have this shadow work force that works alongside of their non-Latino crews," O'Brien said. "The Latinos are paid generally a day rate, generally cash and a fraction of what the others are paid."

O'Brien estimates there could eventually be 100 or more plaintiffs in the class. Although the lawsuit says that nearly all of the class members speak little English and lack an understanding of the legal process, O'Brien said he has no reason to believe that they are undocumented.

But it makes no difference, O'Brien said, because the courts have found that labor laws draw no such distinction when it comes to allegations of exploitation.

Rick Ross, an attorney with Fredrikson & Byron of Minneapolis who represents the defendants, said the allegations are "just completely without merit."

Worked on assorted projects

Ross said the Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 first made the allegations in a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The union never filed a grievance, he said. Nor would it disclose the names of the workers, so Mulcahy was unable to prove that it had paid everyone properly, Ross said.

"We told the EEOC we'd be happy to provide them with whatever information they want, just tell us who these people are," he said.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs worked on various projects around the Twin Cities, including the Bridgewater lofts and M Flats condominiums in Minneapolis and the Hilton Hotel project in Bloomington. The EEOC issued "right to sue" letters to each of them Jan. 25.

The lawsuit says "Latino, immigrant employees" were required to work 12-hour days for six days a week, on average, while other employees averaged 40-hour weeks.

The union could not be reached for comment.

Ross denied that Mulcahy had separate Latino work crews, or that it ever paid any workers in cash. He also noted that the lawsuit says Mulcahy is currently working on the sports stadiums under construction for the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota.

"My clients are drywallers. They put in interior drywalls. They're not working on anything right now," Ross said. "This is all for publicity as far as we can tell."

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493