Hilton Head commercial laundry workers sue over wages, warehouse conditions

Workers for a large commercial laundry on Hilton Head Island claim they were not paid overtime, worked in extreme heat and could be fired as retaliation for complaints, according to a recent collective action lawsuit.

The suit was filed in March by three former employees at a laundry warehouse owned by Housekeeping Services of Hilton Head, at 10 Dunnagan’s Alley. The workers — Petra Isaman, Yilian Ramirez and Nallely Mendoza —alleged violations of federal labor laws on behalf of all workers at the laundry.

Housekeeping Services of Hilton Head describes itself as the Lowcountry’s largest cleaning company, “providing resort housekeeping, residential maid service, business janitorial services, as well as large-scale commercial laundry and linens for the area’s hotels, resorts, restaurants and property management companies,” according to the its website.

The organization’s CEO and owner David Myers and a company workers claim is listed on their pay stubs, Southern Tides Cleaning, are also named in the suit.

“The central complaint is that my clients worked long hours under tough conditions, and they were not paid time and half when they worked over 40 hours a week, which is a violation of federal law,” said the workers’ attorney Marybeth Mullaney.

The workers were employed in the laundry warehouse from 2013 to 2016 and used large machinery for laundering, ironing and folding linens for commercial use, the suit claims.

“The machines were loud, the warehouse was extremely hot and my clients had to ask permission to step away from their machines to use the restroom or to take a meal break,” said Mullaney. “One of my clients had a bathroom accident because she was not allowed to leave her machine.”

The lawsuit alleges the workers were not paid for meal breaks or mandatory pre-shift employee meetings and had to punch out for 5- to 10-minute restroom breaks, in violation of federal wage laws.

The suit also claims there was retaliation for complaints about working conditions.

In one instance, the suit alleges, workers hired a Spanish interpreter to communicate their concerns to management because most employees could not speak English fluently.

One of the workers, Isaman, brought concerns to the manager alongside the interpreter but was allegedly fired when she attempted to communicate the complaints, the lawsuit claims. The interpreter was ordered off the property, the suit states.

Housekeeping Services of Hilton Head filed a response to the lawsuit last month denying all the labor allegations raised in the suit.

“Housekeeping Services of Hilton Head has been an employer in and member of the Hilton Head community for over 27 years,” the company’s attorney Molly Hughes Cherry, wrote in an emailed statement. “The company values all of its employees and operates in accordance with the applicable wage and hour laws. David Myers and the company have responded to the complaint filed by the plaintiffs and intend to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2017 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Hilton Head commercial laundry workers sue over wages, warehouse conditions."