Ted Wiens Tire & Auto accused of illegally deducting fee, failing to pay overtime

A former technician filed a class action lawsuit Wednesday that accuses Ted Wiens Tire & Auto of illegally deducting a uniform cleaning fee from employees’ paychecks and of failing to pay required overtime wages.

Daniel Acuna filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. He worked at Ted Wiens for 13 years before his employment ended last week.

According to the lawsuit, Ted Wiens has a corporatewide practice of automatically deducting $7.50 each pay period from employees’ paychecks for laundering the specialized uniform that the business requires them to wear.

“Ted Wiens’ uniform laundry deduction policy has deprived Ted Wiens’ employees hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, for well over a decade,” the lawsuit alleges.

The document further alleges that all technicians employed by the business have worked, at times, more than 40 hours a week “but have been illegally deprived their overtime wages.”

According to the lawsuit, the laundry fee and lack of overtime compensation also often resulted in employees earning less than the required minimum wage.

“We don’t feel like we did anything wrong, and we can’t comment any further on litigation matters,” Ted Wiens manager Dan Berry said.

Hundreds of technicians have worked at Ted Wiens’ 11 locations in Las Vegas, according to the lawsuit, which alleges violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.

According to the complaint, state law prohibits employers from deducting wages from employees for cleaning employer-mandated uniforms.

Acuna is represented by attorneys Steven Parsons, Andrew Rempfer and Joseph Mott.

According to the Ted Wiens website, it has been a locally owned and operated company in Las Vegas since 1948.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer