Fourteen people are suing their former employer, Forensiclean, alleging the Sacramento company failed to pay them wages required by state law, overtime or meal breaks.

The city of Sacramento’s attorneys verified that the company, in its cleaning of homeless camps, was not paying the so-called prevailing wages that are required by state law, the city’s Department of Community Response Director Brian Pedro told the City Council last month.

The city is now contracting with a different company for camp cleanup, though Sacramento County is still using Forensiclean to handle illegal dumping and camp cleanups. Both the city and county, through their spokespeople, declined comment on the lawsuit.

Forensiclean did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Its webpage states: “Almost half of our staff have purchased their first home since starting with us ... We work hand-in-hand with public health officials, law enforcement, social workers, and local government partners to ensure cleanups are safe, legal and compassionate.”

Forensiclean did not pay the employees overtime for working more than 40 hours a week, nor did it pay additional compensation for working weekends, which is required in state law, the plaintiffs alleged in the lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court last week. The company also did not provide 30-minute meal breaks for working more than five hours a day, or 10-minute paid rest periods every four hours, according to the lawsuit.

“(Forensiclean) gained an unfair advantage in the marketplace by failing to pay lawful wages that were required of any other legitimate businesses as a requirement to engage in public works in the State of California,” the lawsuit alleged.

The suit seeks damages for unpaid wages, overtime, meal periods and rest breaks, including interest.

A local union brought the prevailing wage issue to the city, along with a letter from Caltrans, and the city attorney’s office confirmed the issue, Pedro said.

The city then asked companies for bids for a new contract. The city had previously been paying Forensiclean about $4.2 million a year for the service. When it had to submit a rebid with the new labor requirements, the company’s bid went to $10.4 million, Pedro told the council.

The city ultimately selected Sonoma-based FS Global, which had submitted an $9.4 million bid, and negotiated it down to $6.2 million, Pedro said.

Part of the decrease is that the new company’s employees will no longer routinely work weekends, which are time and a half or double time, unless they are called in to do so.

“FS Global stood out in that they’re prevailing wage-savvy,” Pedro said.

FS Global also contracts with Sonoma County, where it is based, but is hiring about 20 employees locally, Pedro said.

Forensiclean, which contracted with the city from spring 2023 to the present, employs more than 60 people and has a fleet of 35 service vehicles and three tractors, its website says.

In addition to encampment cleanups, it performs hazardous waste cleanup along rail lines and federal land remediation.