Outcome: $4 Million
United States ex rel. Brooks v. Arbon Equipment Corporation et al., 2:11-cv-08152-GW-VBK, Central District of California
Tycko & Zavareei LLP founder Jon Tycko represented a whistleblower who brought a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act against defendants Arbon Equipment Corporation (Arbon) and Rite-Hite Holding Corporation (Rite-Hite). The lawsuit alleged that Arbon and Rite-Hite violated “prevailing wage laws,” which include the federal Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act and certain provisions of the California Labor Code. These prevailing wage laws require contractors and subcontractors working on certain types of government-funded projects to pay employees working on those projects specified hourly wages that are higher than minimum wage, and often higher than the employees would be paid for doing similar work on private projects. The action brought by a former Arbon employee alleged that Arbon and its parent company, Rite-Hite, failed to pay prevailing wages to employees who installed and serviced loading dock equipment at facilities owned by the federal or California state governments. Pursuant to the terms of a settlement, the Defendants paid a total of $4,000,000 and agreed to change their compensation practices and policies to assure compliance with federal and California prevailing wage laws.