Senate Democrats in Minnesota are calling on the Wilf family, the owners of the Minnesota Vikings, to address a wage theft lawsuit against two subcontractors who worked on Vikings Lakes, a multi-use development that includes the team’s new headquarters, training facility and hotel.
According to a story first published by the Minnesota Reformer, more than two dozen workers say they’re still owed more than $100,000 in wages from two subcontractors that worked on Vikings Lakes – Absolute Drywall and Property Maintenance and Construction. In a letter addressed to the Wilf family, 25 Senate Democrats said that “when workers come forward with claims of wage theft and mistreatment, they deserve swift action to remedy the situation.”
Wage Theft Lawsuit
Although the workers were not directly employed by the Wilfs, lawmakers are asking the family to place the funds in an escrow account to pay the workers should their allegations be confirmed by state investigators. Lawmakers feel this is an appropriate move for the Wilfs considering that state taxpayers paid $348 million to build the new $1.1 billion stadium, with Minneapolis taxpayers contributing an additional $150 million.
“As beneficiaries of perhaps the largest taxpayer subsidy in Minnesota’s history, we contend a higher standard of scrutiny should apply to this situation,” Senate Democrats wrote in their letter to the Wilfs. “The longer workers are forced to wait to be paid all the wages and damages they are owed, the more likely they are to be subjected to hardship and retaliation from their employers. It is within your control to ensure workers on your project are paid what they are owed.”
A review of the subcontractors found numerous issues with Absolute Drywall, including child labor law violations in 2016 and misclassification of workers to avoid paying overtime, health insurance and payroll taxes, which resulted in an order to pay 27 workers more than $100,000 in unpaid wages. The company has also been cited four times by state regulators, which labor leaders say is shocking given how rarely citations are given and enforced.
Minnesota has been working to crack down on wage theft in recent years, as a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a bill in 2019 that made wage theft in excess of $1,000 a felony. The group also directed an additional $3 million to the Department of Labor and Industry to hire seven more investigators to investigate potential instances of wage theft.
Many individuals who have been the victim of wage theft do not know where to turn when they find themselves on the short-end of a paycheck, but know that you have options available to you. The team at Hey Workers has extensive experience proving wage theft and helping employees get the compensation they rightfully deserve. So if you have been victimized by a boss and have yet to receive the compensation you deserve for work you completed, reach out to our team and learn about your options. Give our team a call today at (844) 439-9675.
