Lawsuit filed against Pierce Manufacturing

A class action lawsuit filed against Pierce Manufacturing on Monday is requesting overtime compensation, unpaid wages and liquidated damages from the Town of Menasha company.

The plaintiff, Eric Ehmann, and other current and former employees filed the suit against Pierce, which manufactures fire trucks, firefighting equipment and provides fire truck services throughout the country, and called for a jury trial.

Pierce is a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corp.

According to the complaint, the manufacturing company operated an "unlawful compensation system" that shaved at least 10 minutes off of the employees' wages each day, or more than 50 minutes each week. The time was "impermissibly" deducted and should have been compensated as time and a half pay, the complaint said.

The complaint said Ehmann and other employees used to take two paid breaks per shift — a 10-minute break during the first half of the shift and a 20-minute break during the second half. That equated to a 9-hour-and-10-minute shift Mondays through Thursdays and an 8-hour-and-10-minute shift on Fridays.

"Pierce was or should have been aware that plaintiff was working a 44-hour-and-50-minute work week, but compensated Plaintiff for only 44 hours each work week," the complaint said.

James Walcheske, Ehmann's attorney, said Pierce stopped the practice last week. The company issued a written memorandum on Jan. 21, announcing it would change its break policy and shorten shifts by at least 10 minutes.

The exact amount of employees affected is unknown, but according to the complaint, it could be anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500. The Fair Labor Standards Act stipulates plaintiffs can be part of a suit if they have not been compensated within three years of the suit's filing date.

"As a matter of policy, Oshkosh does not comment on pending litigation," said John Daggett, an Oshkosh Corp. spokesman. "This matter relates only to Pierce and to policies that are no longer in place there."

Ethan Safran: 920-996-7267, or esafran@gannett.com; on Twitter @EthanSafran