Judge Breaks Up Janitors' Wage Class Action Against Airport Cleaning Contractor

A federal judge has broken up a class action involving hundreds of airport janitors who had accused a cleaning contractor of shorting them pay, according to an article on the Cook County Record website. The judge said the only thing the janitors had in common is that they all worked at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

In an opinion entered May 23 in Chicago, Judge Robert W. Gettleman granted the motion of Scrub, Inc., to decertify a class of employees who alleged violation of the Fair Labor Standards.

According to court documents, Scrub’s O’Hare workers fell into three categories: contracted with the city to clean domestic terminals; contracted with individual airlines to clean gates and other areas; and contracted with airlines to clean airplane cabins. Other Scrub employees load trucks with airplane supplies.

Since the suit's initial conditional certification, more than 750 employees had opted into the class. There are at least 13 Scrub time clocks throughout the airport, court documents said, but some Scrub employees who work outside terminals don’t have access and instead call a supervisor to report arriving for and departing from work. Supervisors then complete payroll input sheets.

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