A construction company specializing in disaster recovery settled a lawsuit with migrant workers who were denied overtime even though they often worked long hours cleaning up wreckage left by Hurricane Katrina. Belfor USA Group Inc. agreed to pay $223,000 to 163 workers who were hired by Belfor subcontractors, working 12 hours a day, seven days a week in many cases. The workers -- many originally from Brazil, Mexico and Honduras -- migrated from all over the country after Katrina to help with cleanup in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
See "Company Settles Katrina Workers' Suit", Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, September 7, 2006