U.S. Labor Dept. files $1.4 million complaint against trucking firm

U.S. Labor Dept. files $1.4 million complaint against trucking firm The U.S. Department of Labor Monday said it has filed an administrative complaint against Woodland Hills-based Alan Berman Trucking to recover nearly $1.4 million in back wages for 80 current and former employees.
   The complaint also seeks to bar the company and its principals from receiving government contracts for a period of three years.
   The complaint stems from work performed by the company from June 2004 to February 2007. ABT had some $10 million in mail-hauling contracts with the U.S. Postal Service subject to the Service Contract Act (SCA) during this time period, providing services from postal facilities in the greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas.
   According to the filing, investigators from the Labor Department found violations on eight contracts where ABT treated the drivers as independent contractors. The complaint alleges that ABT required the drivers to use their own trucks and assume all costs. The firm also allegedly paid employees either by the mile or by the trip, failed to record hours worked and failed to pay any fringe benefits as required by law. Investigators also claim ABT made illegal deductions for fuel from the drivers’ pay and failed to reimburse the cost of the driver-owned trucks’ maintenance and wear and tear. As a result, the drivers’ wages fell below the prevailing wage rate required by the SCA.
   Under the SCA, contractors and subcontractors on federal service contracts exceeding $2,500 must pay their service workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality. The Labor Department issues wage determinations that provide the required SCA wage rate and fringe benefits for each service occupation. These determinations are incorporated into covered federal contracts.
   The investigation is the Labor Department’s ninth of ABT, with violations of federal labor laws found during seven of the prior investigations. This suit names ABT, as well as President Alan Berman of Woodland Hills, and Vice President Osvaldo “Ozzie” Tarditti of Northridge as defendants.