AUBURN – Egg farmer Austin “Jack” DeCoster continues to settle lawsuits stemming from years of labor-law violations.
On Monday, Androscoggin Superior Court Justice Thomas E. Delahanty II approved a $220,000 settlement to conclude a case brought by former DeCoster truck drivers.
The case dates to August 2001. That’s when Malcolm Gerard hired Portland lawyer Donald Fontaine to help him recover lost overtime wages. The suit was later amended to a class action representing about 50 truck drivers seeking more than $1 million.
Gerard and four other plaintiffs will get $1,000 each as compensation for being in the lead in taking on DeCoster, who operates egg farms in Turner and hog farms in the Midwest.
Fontaine said he is taking steps to identify other possible truckers entitled to a share of the settlement. He has sent letters, made telephone calls and published legal notices encouraging potential claimants to step forward.
The amount each will receive – except for the $1,000 in added payments going to the first five plaintiffs – depends on how many claims are eventually filed and granted.
Fontaine was in the forefront of another DeCoster lawsuit that resulted in a $5 million settlement in January 1999. About 2,700 egg farm workers who had been denied overtime shared in that payout.
Another 72 workers were paid $850,000 by DeCoster in a similar overtime dispute settled in April 2000.
Monday’s settlement resolved a case in which truck drivers claimed they were paid per trip, rather than an hourly rate that would have generated overtime.
DeCoster argued that the drivers were exempt from overtime because they were delivering agricultural goods and perishable foods.
A summary judgment sought by DeCoster and based on the perishable foods exception to overtime rules was issued, but Fontaine appealed that judgment to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
The settlement was reached before the high court ruled on the case.
Neither DeCoster nor any of the plaintiffs in the case attended Monday’s court action approving the settlement.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.