LME Trucking closes abruptly; KC employees are out of work and paid



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KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Dozens of employees are out of work and receive several weeks of pay after the brutal closure of LME Inc. on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri.

The trucking company based in Roseville, Minnesota, has closed all 30 of its facilities without notice or notice to its employees.

More than 60 employees were working at the Kansas City site, including Scott Evans, who had been driving trucks for the company for eight years. He was ordered Thursday to Evans to turn around and return to the Kansas City terminal.

When he arrived, he was told that the company was going to close.

"The first thing that comes to mind … how am I going to feed my family?" Evans said. "It's almost like they do not care."

Calls to the company's headquarters in Minnesota went unanswered and did not come back Thursday and Friday. The Kansas City terminal was closed Friday when 41 Action News was transferred to an establishment.

At the end of Friday afternoon,

the company's website has alerted customers

: "LME Inc. will no longer pick up or deliver freight due to unforeseen circumstances and has ceased operations."

Christian Dawson worked six days a week for the LME.

"I was working," he said. "I have a baby on the road, at any time.We have just moved into our apartment and I have to pay rent.It is inhuman, that is what it is. is."

Dawson is considered one of the "lucky" employees who managed to bring his salary back to the end of the day on Thursday.

Employees told 41 Action News that they are paid once a week but that because of the payroll system they are still two weeks late. Many employees reported that they were owed three weeks.

"We're all good and suddenly everything was stopped," said Steve Cain, who had been with the company for eight years. "We ran into a brick wall."

Court documents obtained by 41 Action News

This is not the first time that the trucking company closes its doors without notice.

Under the same property, LME called Lakeville Motor Express.

The company closed some of its terminals in 2016 without notice. The unionized workers sued the company, claiming that Lakeville Motor Express had only claimed to shut down and continued to operate as an LME.

A month ago, LME began paying a settlement of $ 1.25 million.

The company faces other lawsuits for alleged breach of pension obligations.

The Missouri Department of Labor told 41 Action News that it received several calls on Friday about LME.

According to the state, former employees can either file a complaint with the Missouri Division of Labor Standards, the US Department of Labor, or hire a lawyer and take legal action.

The Minimum Wage Act in Missouri requires that a written complaint be submitted to the state. Once the state receives the complaint, labor standards may open an investigation.

Labor standards "do not have the power to legally require employers to pay wages due to their employees because there is no law on the collection of wages".

According to the state, the only legal remedy is for employees to sue and seek redress through the courts.

LME employees who were road truck drivers fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Department of Labor, whose local office booth is located at 913-551-5721.

Federal

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

requires companies with more than 100 employees to send 60-day closure notices to employees and the state.

Employers who contravene the WARN provision are "punishable by up to 60 days for each injured employee for an amount, including back pay and benefits for the period of violation". during the period of violation and the voluntary and unconditional payments made by the employer to the employee. "

Employers who fail to give notice to the local government are subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $ 500 per day of violation.

This penalty can be avoided if the employer discharges its responsibility to each aggrieved employee within three weeks of closure or dismissal ordered by the employer.

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