Supermarkets Underpaid Night Janitors, Suit Alleges

A coalition of civil rights and labor lawyers filed a lawsuit Thursday against three major supermarket chains and a national building services contractor, alleging systematic underpayment of janitors who clean the stores at night.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of an estimated 600 janitors. It named Albertson’s, Ralphs and Vons, as well as Houston-based Encompass Services Corp., a contractor that provides janitors to the stores. All denied wrongdoing. The suit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and several area law firms.

The lawsuit alleges that the markets “implemented a scheme to evade responsibility for janitors’ wages and job benefits by pretending to hire janitors indirectly through a contractor while retaining control over the work the janitors perform.” It asks for back pay and punitive damages and a court order that the janitors become employees of the markets or Encompass.

A Times story this year documented supermarket janitors who worked seven nights a week, starting at midnight, with no overtime pay, workers’ compensation insurance or protective gear. Most were paid in cash or with personal checks, with no payroll taxes deducted. Some said they were paid less than the minimum wage. Most were recent immigrants from rural Mexico who were recruited by subcontractors of Encompass.

With nearly $4 billion in sales a year, Encompass is a young and fast-growing firm that claims to be the largest building-maintenance contractor in the nation. The firm provides janitors to numerous retail outlets through a pyramid of contractors and subcontractors. On the New York Stock Exchange, Encompass shares fell 25 cents to close at $3.63.

Encompass spokeswoman Jeanne Buchanan said she had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on specific claims. However, she said the company’s subcontractors are required to comply with federal and state laws. “Encompass takes its obligations under the law very seriously,” she said.

Spokesmen for the supermarket chains emphasized they do not employ the janitors directly.

“Albertson’s is not related in any way to Encompass,” the company said in a written statement. “Therefore, it has no direct control over the employees of Encompass.”

Similarly, Kevin Herglotz of Vons said, “These janitors do not work for us. Encompass is a separate company. . . . We are not aware of any labor law violations or investigations against Encompass. If anything isolated has occurred, we do not condone it.”

The 40-page lawsuit contends that the markets, which once directly hired their janitors, saved millions of dollars a year by contracting out the work. But store managers continued to supervise and direct the janitors and approved their work at the end of each shift. Because of that control, the suit claims, the supermarkets should be held jointly liable for back pay and punitive damages.

It also claims the markets should have known the janitors were routinely underpaid and that problems were pointed out by state investigators and union representatives.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents thousands of janitors in Los Angeles, also joined the lawsuit, alleging that the markets and Encompass engaged in unfair labor practices that suppressed union wages.

At a news conference at MALDEF offices, two former Encompass janitors spoke of their experiences. Maria Tona Orea said she worked at a Santa Monica Ralphs for several months without a break. After asking for a day off Christmas Eve, she said, she was fired.

Guadalupe Flores worked at numerous supermarkets in Arizona, Florida and California for Encompass subcontractors over the last four years. “All those years, they never paid me overtime,” he said.

Flores now works for a union contractor at a Stater Bros. store in Anaheim, where he earns $9 an hour with time-and-a-half for anything more than 40 hours a week.