ST. LOUIS — A labor union is suing Surecut Lawncare LLC, which does business as Surecut Lawncare, Surecut Solutions and Farinella Bros. Landscaping, for alleged breach of contract for refusing to comply with a collective bargaining agreement.
Eastern Missouri Laborers District Council and its affiliate Laborers International Union of North America, Local 110, filed a complaint on April 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against the defendants, alleging that they violated the National Labor Relations Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that defendant Farinella Bros Landscaping Inc. was administratively dissolved and allegedly sold to Surecut Lawncare on Jan. 29, 2016. The plaintiff claims that the sale was merely a ruse and that Surecut is actually an alter ego of Farinella, which is still bound to the collective bargaining agreement with the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs allege the defendant failed to recognize the union's status as the only proper collective bargaining representative of its employees, failed to abide by the requirements of the collective bargaining agreement with the union and failed to make supplemental union dues contribution on behalf of its employees.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment for supplemental union dues payments and further relief as the court may consider appropriate under the circumstances. They are represented by Sherrie Hall and Nathan Gilbert of Hammond and Shinners P.C. in St. Louis.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Case number 4:17-cv-01234