Posted on 09/19/2009 4:58:36 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
As union workers at Mercury Marine fought over contract concessions meant to save hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin, the company's midlevel managers filed a lawsuit over unpaid bonuses.
The class-action lawsuit, filed last month in federal court, argues that the Fond du Lac-based outboard-engine maker failed to pay $7 million in bonuses to roughly 100 managers. According to the suit, senior Mercury executives instructed lower level managers in April 2008 to implement a cost-savings program and assured managers that they would receive 10% of whatever savings they managed to achieve as an incentive.
The suit names Brunswick Corp., Mercury's parent company, as defendant. Brunswick cancelled bonuses despite repeated assurances that the managers were entitled to a "self-funded bonus program," said Gregory Gill Sr., the attorney representing the managers.
Each of the approximately 100 people covered in the suit "is alleged to be entitled to an amount greater than $75,000," the suit says. In addition to the $7 million in bonuses, the suit seeks additional damages that could exceed $3.5 million, Gill said.
The initial suit was filed Aug. 21 just as the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers struggled over a company proposal to freeze wages, increase health care costs and cut pay by 30% for new hires and employees called back from layoff. The labor dispute, which split the union's membership, dragged out into a third vote that the union approved this month.
To keep its operations in Wisconsin, Mercury also will receive aid and incentives from local government and the state. The company scrapped plans to move operations to a non-union plant in Oklahoma.
More than two-thirds of those eligible under the class-action suit are residents of Wisconsin, according to an affidavit filed last week.
Representatives from Mercury Marine did not return phone calls Friday.
According to the article, this is money that the company promised to them based on the amount they saved - a “self-funded bonus program”. If the managers didn’t have anything in writing, they may be S.O.L.
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