Collective Action Says Construction Co. Fired Employee for ‘Missing Too Much Work’ After COVID-19 Diagnosis

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A lawsuit alleges Colt Builders Corp. has failed to pay proper overtime and unlawfully terminated an employee who was forced to miss work after being diagnosed with COVID-19. 

The plaintiff behind the 12-page proposed collective action claims he was fired by the construction and commercial wood framing company due to “missing too much work” after being admitted to the hospital as a result of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms weeks after he initially attempted to return to work in late November 2020. 

The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, further claims the plaintiff and similarly situated workers were not paid overtime wages for hours they worked in excess of 40 each week.

Per the suit, the plaintiff worked for the Austin-based defendant as a salaried site superintendent from November 2019 until December 2020. The plaintiff and other site superintendents were classified by the defendant as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements, the case says. 

The lawsuit alleges, however, that the nature of the plaintiff and other site superintendents’ job duties did not allow for them to be exempt from overtime under the FLSA, as the workers, for instance, did not hire or fire anyone, have input into hiring or firing decisions and exercise discretion or judgment on matters of significance. 

“Plaintiff’s and other Site Superintendents’ primary duties were repetitive, rote or mechanical tasks which were subject to close review and management,” the suit reads. 

The plaintiff estimates he generally worked between 60 and 70 hours per week without proper overtime pay. Per the lawsuit, the defendant’s overtime pay practices are uniform at job sites across Dallas, Austin and Oklahoma.

After testing positive for COVID-19 in early November 2020, the plaintiff immediately notified Colt Builders of his diagnosis before taking two weeks of sick leave, the case says. Upon returning to work, the plaintiff continued to experience COVID-19 symptoms and was hospitalized within a couple weeks of his return, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit claims the plaintiff was fired on December 7, in apparent violation of Families First Coronavirus Response Act guidelines, as the result of “missing too much work” because of his COVID-19 diagnosis. 

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