News & Insights

Lightfoot Secures Federal Jury Defense Verdict for Morris-Shea in FLSA Case

June 23, 2021

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC partners Glenn Waldrop and Kevin Clark, along with associate Amie Vague, recently secured a defense win for Morris-Shea, a Birmingham-based deep foundation contractor. On June 16, a federal jury found for Lightfoot’s client in a case brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

  The dispute, Coleman v. Morris-Shea Bridge Co., arose after three brothers separated from employment with Morris-Shea in 2017. They subsequently filed a lawsuit against Morris-Shea  asserting 22 claims for wrongful termination, discrimination based on age and race, and pay disparities. The complaint also included one claim under the FLSA for unpaid overtime.

Last fall, the Lightfoot team won summary judgment resulting in dismissal of 21 of the 22 claims. Only the FLSA claim remained and the parties took it to trial in mid-June. After three days of trial, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before returning a verdict fully in favor of Morris-Shea.

“Cases that make scattershot, unsubstantiated claims undermine the point of the judicial system in general, and our labor laws and statutes in particular,” said Waldrop. “It was gratifying that the system worked as it was supposed to and justice was done in this matter.”

Waldrop is one of Lightfoot’s founding partners and focuses his practice on business and commercial litigation. He works with clients across a variety of industries, including construction, securities, insurance and finance. Waldrop has broad experience defending both individual lawsuits and class actions. 

Clark’s practice spans a wide variety of litigation matters, including catastrophic injury, product liability, toxic torts, medical malpractice, employment discrimination and consumer fraud. He also has significant experience defending clients in class action litigation. In addition to litigating cases, Clark provides training and consulting services for his employment law clients. 

Vague maintains a varied practice that includes work on trial and appellate matters involving product liability, medical malpractice, professional liability and employment law, along with white-collar criminal defense and corporate investigations.