Cox Communications won dismissal of a class-action lawsuit filed in Louisiana by an employee of an installation contractor who said he wasn’t compensated for overtime work.
According to Law360, Eastern District of Louisiana Court Judge Janis van Meerveld granted the dismissal based on the fact that plaintiff Scott Gremillion is an employee of installation contractor Grayco Communications LP, not privately held MSO Cox.
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Gremillion alleged in his suit that both Grayco and Cox violated Louisiana law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The suit was filed in June.
A Cox representative told FierceCable that the company doesn’t typically comment on litigation.
Suits by cable installation workers are common, with workers alleging that MSOs engage in a range of unfair labor practices, hiding behind third-party installation contractors.
Plaintiff attorneys have tried to implicate the operators themselves with limited success.
"The model is illegal," David Blanchard, an Ann Arbor, Michigan, attorney representing the employees of a Comcast contractor, told FierceTelecom last year. "They try to pass on all the risk to unskilled people who are often times sold on an idea of independence. In the end, they work harder and don't make more money. They don't have control over the jobs they do or the hours they work. The law says they're an employee, and they're eligible for overtime pay and compensation in case they hurt themselves on the job.”