Result: $4 million settlement
Year: 2008

Adams v. Inter-Con Security Services Employee Wage & Hour Lawsuit

On February 25, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the Northern District of California granted final approval to the class action settlement in Adams v. Inter-Con Security Services.

Specifically, Inter-Con has agreed to pay $4,000,000 to a class of approximately 15,000 current and former Inter-Con Security Officers nationwide. Inter-Con has also agreed to cease the unlawful practices. (This class action settlement is separate from the Williams v. Inter-Con and Ferris v. Inter-Con cases, which together were settled for $2,500,000 recently in Los Angeles Superior Court. Those cases involved current and former Security Officers working in California only.)

Summary of Lawsuit Allegations Against Inter-Con Security

In the complaint filed September 5, 2006, Plaintiffs charged that Inter-Con unlawfully required its Security Officers to attend 15-minute security briefings prior to each 8-hour shift, without paying them. New employees were also required to attend several hours of unpaid orientation and training. Additionally, Security Officers were not paid interest on deposits made for their required uniforms.

Plaintiff Roy Adams worked as a security guard protecting the South San Francisco Kaiser hospital from June 2004 until January 2008. Adams stated, “I’m bringing this suit to ensure that my coworkers and I get paid properly for all the work we do. I’ve been in security and law enforcement for many years, and I like knowing that I’m helping protect my neighbors. But we can’t afford to work for free.”

Inter-Con Employee Class Definition

The settlement includes all Inter-Con security officers employed on a non-U.S. State Department (UPSP) contract:

• in California between September 5, 2002 and October 29, 2007; or
• in Illinois and/or Maryland between January 29, 2004 and October 29, 2007; or
• in any other state between September 5, 2003 and October 29, 2007

Settlement Awards and Injunctive Relief (Policy Changes):

In April 2008, the Claims Administrator sent award checks to the class members who submitted valid claim forms in accordance with the process set forth by the Court in the February 2008 settlement order.

In addition to making $4,000,000 in payments to class members, Inter-Con has also given notice that they will cease to require unpaid off-the-clock work, and will now pay interest on uniform deposits.