Earlier this month, a federal judge granted class-action status to the lawsuit, defining a legal class that includes current and former Fuyao production workers who worked for the company some time in the last three years.
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Attorneys for those suing Fuyao won permission to contact workers and former workers with information about the legal action.
The workers involved in the lawsuit so far — about 31 individuals so far — have alleged that the manufacturer of auto safety glass has not properly paid workers for overtime work or did not completely relieve them of duties for unpaid meal breaks and other times.
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Earlier this month, the auto glass manufacturer was given 14 days to provide the plaintiffs’ attorneys the workers’ and former workers’ names, job positions, last-known mailing addresses, last-known telephone numbers, email addresses and other contact information.
An attorney for Fuyao has denied allegations that workers were not properly paid by the company.
Workers have 90-days to join the lawsuit, said Bob DeRose, a Columbus attorney who represents the workers. Once the notice period ends, Fuyao can move to decertify the class if it proves that the workers were not similarly treated, he also said.
RELATED: Fuyao worker killed on the job
“If that happens then everyone has an individual trial,” DeRose added.
Last week, a forklift operator working at Fuyao’s West Stroop Road plant was killed in an early morning accident on the job. Cincinnati-based investigators of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident.
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