Aircraft workers owed more than $73,000, lawsuit says
.JPG "An Emerald Aerospace temporary sign on what was once a Boeing building on south Oliver. In 2016, Emerald Aerospace said it was operating out of 200,000 square feet at the former Boeing Wichita Modification Center, now Air Capital Flight Line.")
A dozen former employees of a startup aircraft completions and modifications company are owed more than $73,000 in overtime, according to a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
The lawsuit against Emerald Aerospace and its majority owner, Ahmed Bashir, said the 12 workers "were not paid in accordance with the overtime pay provision of the FLSA (Fair Standards Labor Act)," and individually are owed overtime in amounts that vary between $1,211 and $17,500.
According to the lawsuit, the former employees are: Jay Guengerich, Roger E. Berry, Sara D. Erb, Traci Grant, Steven J. Leiker, Teresa M. Puetz, Rebecca Outland, Shasta Outland, Zoe Shaw, Michael K. Smith, Tamara Upton and Jerry Van Ness.
Their lawyer, Don Peterson of Graybill & Hazlewood, couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
Emerald Aerospace officials unveiled the new company's plans in April 2016, leasing 200,000 square feet of buildings at Air Capital Flight Line on South Oliver, including two hangars that were part of the former Boeing Wichita Modification Center and large enough to house four Boeing 747s.
Officials at the time said the company planned to do work on large commercial aircraft for special missions, VIPs and ultra-wealthy people. That would include installation of custom interiors and related modifications on airplanes that would come to the company green, or unfinished. The airplanes would represent the spectrum of commercial aircraft manufactured by Boeing.
About six months later, a company official said Emerald had "scaled back operations in Wichita," and that just a "core group" of its 26 employees remained.
The lawsuit said Emerald is "presently not actively operating."
Still, the company's working website indicates an address on the Air Capital property that it vacated. And it still has a working phone number, which is answered by an automated attendant.
Messages left Thursday on Emerald's voice mail for comment went unanswered.
This story was originally published March 9, 2018 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Aircraft workers owed more than $73,000, lawsuit says."