When the V.C. Summer nuclear plant abruptly shut down in the summer of 2017, thousands of workers lost their job without notice. Yarborough Applegate partner William Applegate and co-counsel Amy Gaffney recently reached a $1.59M settlement for a small sub-group of those laid-off workers in one of two class action suits regarding their clients’ employment and termination.
As reported by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly,
“Just weeks after the layoff, those workers filed a Worker and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) class action lawsuit against Fluor, the leading construction contractor on the project, and WECTEC, a subsidiary of the nuclear energy company Westinghouse. The plaintiffs sought damages for not receiving the 60-day notice required by federal law, the release states, adding that Fluor employees were “among the hardest hit by the shutdown.’”
Applegate and Gaffney are two of the appointed lead lawyers for the class in that case.
During their investigation into the WARN Act violations, Applegate and Gaffney discovered that Fluor withheld overtime pay for a group of its employees for extended periods of time. Based on this information, a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was filed to recover these workers’ backpay which resulted in the recovery of $1.59 million.
The initial complaint filed in August 2017 was meant to ensure that these employees are protected and compensated consistent with the law. Attorney William Applegate says that they “believe the employees are entitled to significant damages.” Discovery for this case is still underway.
Yarborough Applegate attorneys have a passion for sharing their expertise with the larger law community. Our own Chris Bryant shares his insights on making better motions in limine in the November issue of Trial magazine. Chris writes: …by not thinking about motions in limine until the last minute, we miss opportunities to strengthen our cases. […]
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Five of our seven attorneys have been named as 2020 Super Lawyers Honorees or Rising Star Honorees, and our founding partner, David Yarborough, has been selected to the Top 10 in Charleston and Top 25 in South Carolina.
The National Association of Legal Assistants recently published a piece written by our own Laura Butler Peirano in their publication Facts & Findings. In the article, Laura recalls her experience at a county-run methadone clinic and rehabilitation center. There she provided methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) to clients as part of her Masters-level practicum. Later, at Yarborough […]
Our very own David Yarborough and Reynolds Blankenship, two of South Carolina’s well-known bad faith plaintiff lawyers, have written the playbook on the subject.