Judge: Re-ad owes $54,000 in pay

A U.S. Department of Labor judge ruled in favor of three employees Wednesday, ordering Seneca Re-ad Industries Inc. to pay unpaid wages and damages. Judge Steven Bell ordered the sheltered workshop, operated by Seneca County Board of Developmental Disabilities through a partnership with Roppe Industries, to pay more than $54,000. Attorney fees and litigation costs also were awarded, according to court documents. Bell ruled that moving forward, the employees are to be paid the Ohio minimum wage of $8.10. Three employees sought a review of their pay from the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor in November. “The ruling is disappointing,” Lew Hurst, superintendent of the Seneca County Opportunity Center, said. “We live by our mission of improving lives of those individuals with disabilities.” Hurst said the board of developmental disabilities and the Seneca Re-ads board are looking into appealing the decision. They question Bell’s decision not to consider timed studies conducted by an expert brought in by Seneca Re-ads. The studies are used to calculate pay rates for workers, Hurst said. “If a national expert cannot determine what is right, then who do we consult with to do what is right?” he asked. According to court documents, special wages are allowed under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In considering special wages, employers are to compare the work of a disabled individual to that of a non-disabled individual doing the same work. “We thought there would be some amount paid because no situation is perfect, but were surprised by how hard the Re-ads was hit,” Hurst said. The settlement is to be split among the three employees – Ralph (Joe) Magers, Pamela Steward and Mark Felton – who have worked at Seneca Re-ads for several years and have diagnosed disabilities. Bell heard the case in January in Seneca County Common Pleas Court. “The workshop wrongly set subminimum wages,” Bell ruled. “I find that the special minimum wages acutely paid to the petitioners are not justifiable given the nature and extent of the petitioners’ respective disabilities and have not been appropriately calculated.” According to court documents, the employees earned $3 to $18 during their employment. Many of the jobs the workers performed were at a piece-rate basis while others were rated hourly. In addition, the criteria to consider the determination of special minimum wages include the nature of the disabilities, prevailing wages of experienced employees who are not disabled and productivity of disabled workers, court documents state. “I find that the petitioners are entitled to the minimum wage for every hour of covered employment,” Bell stated in his ruling. He toured the facility before the hearing. In his ruling, Bell wrote, “There is nothing about the work itself which would inherently favor production rates by a non-disabled person over the production rate of an individual with one or more disabilities. … I conclude that while each of the petitioners unquestionably has one or more disabilities, those disabilities should not, and do not, impair any of the petitioners from performing any of the jobs in the Fostoria facility.” Hurst said Seneca County Board of Developmental Disabilities is weighing its options and consulting its attorneys on what to do next and re-evaluating the contract to make sure its stays true to its mission.