NASA Contractor Genesis Engineering Solutions Hit with Wage and Hour Class Action

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A proposed class and collective action alleges NASA contractor Genesis Engineering Solutions, Inc. has failed to pay proper prevailing and overtime wages as a result of misclassifying certain employees. 

The plaintiff, who worked for Lanham, Maryland-headquartered Genesis as a “procurement specialist,” alleges in the 17-page lawsuit that he was classified “without any legal basis” as exempt from overtime pay despite the fact that he did not receive a salary. The man avers that his primary job duties, compiling and recording production, consumption and quality control data; preparing requisition forms; and ordering parts and equipment, qualified as non-overtime-exempt work.

Moreover, the plaintiff argues that he was, pursuant to the Service Contract Act (SCA) and as pre-determined by the U.S. Department of Labor, to be paid for his NASA work at the applicable prevailing wage rate for the SCA classification of “production control clerk,” which is akin to his title of “procurement specialist.” In Prince George’s County, Maryland, the lawsuit says, the prevailing applicable wage rate for a production control clerk is $26.08 per hour, yet the plaintiff says he was paid during his employment roughly $18 to $24 per hour without overtime wages. 

“Thus, Defendant failed to compensate Plaintiff at his SCA hourly rate for the first 40 hours each week, and at 150% of his regular (SCA) hourly rate when he worked over 40 hours in a week,” the complaint alleges.

Per the lawsuit, any employee performing service work under a federally-funded contract, whether they’re an employee of a general contractor or subcontractor, is an intended beneficiary of the public contract and must be paid the relevant Service Contract Act wage and benefit rate and at 150 percent for overtime hours worked. The plaintiff, who worked for the defendant from June 2019 through February 2021, alleges he’s among other Genesis Engineering Solutions workers who held positions that were improperly classified as overtime-exempt, such as PCB electronics assembler, PWB fabrication lead, cable harness assembler, support specialist and technician.

The lawsuit alleges Genesis Engineering Solutions’ apparent wage and hour violations, given the company’s position as a government contractor, were not the result of a simple mistake. 

“Defendant is highly experienced in NASA work, and virtually its entire business is dependent on NASA contracts,” the suit reads. “Defendant’s actions were not merely an unintentional oversight. Plaintiff complained to the head of human resources that he was not receiving the overtime pay he was entitled to, but Defendant willfully refused to properly classify and compensate them.”

According to the complaint, the plaintiff, during many busy weeks, put in roughly 50 to 60 hours for which he was paid only at his straight-time hourly rate. 

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