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Government to pay $565,000 in attorneys’ fees in IC case

April 14, 2014

The U.S. Department of Labor will pay $565,000 in attorneys’ fees to Texas company Gate Guard Services L.P. after the company won its misclassification case against the government agency, attorneys for Gate Guard announced last week.

The attorneys’ fees were awarded by U.S. District Court in Texas, according to law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

Gate Guard was ordered to pay approximately $6.2 million in back wages and overtime by the Department of Labor back in 2010, according to Chamberlain Hrdlicka. The company provides gate attendants who log in vehicles coming and going from restricted sites such as oilfields and gas fields, construction sites and ranches. The attendants typically live on site in their own recreational vehicles and operate as independent contractors — a classification the government contested. However, a judge ruled against the Department of Labor on Feb. 14, 2013.

“The Department of Labor and the EEOC are aggressively pursuing employers, and employers are starting to fight back,” said Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Annette Idalski, lead counsel on the case. “Not only are they winning those fights, but courts are awarding attorneys’ fees for unsubstantiated lawsuits filed by the government.”