NextEra Energy faces wage theft, break violation claims in California class action

A former NextEra Energy wind technician says the company systematically underpaid workers, manipulated time records and denied meal and rest breaks in a California class action.(CN) — A former wind technician in California says one of North America’s largest energy companies systematically underpaid its workers, manipulated their hours, denied their breaks and failed to provide safe working conditions for them in a recently filed class action.Isaiah Lee Williams-Dismuk and a proposed class of former and current NextEra Energy Resources employees accuse the company and its affiliated companies of regularly violating numerous state labor laws.NextEra Energy failed to provide overtime wages, wages for missed meals and rest breaks and sick-pay wages at the regular rate of pay, the plaintiff says in the complaint filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court. The defendants also failed to provide accurate wage statements, Williams-Dismuk says.“Specifically, defendants required plaintiff and the other class members to enter their time on defendants-issued timesheets in Excel and to round their time entries downward to the nearest five-minute increment, resulting in systematic understatement of compensable hours worked,” the plaintiff writes in the complaint. “Additionally, defendants prohibited plaintiff and the other class members from recording overtime hours daily and instructed them to record overtime only when their bi-weekly totals exceeded 80 hours."“Defendants also, at times, directed plaintiff to limit his recorded daily hours to eight regardless of the actual hours worked,” he continues. “As a result, plaintiff and the other class members were not paid for this off-the-clock work.”California labor law requires employers to keep accurate records of their employee hours and to pay nonexempt employees for all time worked, including overtime. Typically, employees earn time-and-a-half for every hour worked after an eight-hour day in a 40-hour week.Williams-Dismuk worked for NextEra Energy between December 2024 and January 2026 in Alameda County, California, as a level two wind technician, typically responsible for inspecting, maintaining and repairing wind turbines.Williams-Dismuk also describes a work environment that discouraged employees from taking state-mandated lunch and rest breaks.“Specifically, on the occasions that plaintiff did take a meal period, they were frequently interrupted, cut short, or taken past his fifth hour of work because defendants expected plaintiff to complete his work tasks prior to taking a meal break,” he writes. “Although plaintiff frequently took his meal break well past his fifth hour of work, plaintiff was required to complete his time sheet to reflect that a meal break was taken before his fifth hour of work, creating inaccurate time records. Further, on the occasions that plaintiff worked more than 10 hours per shift, he was not allowed to take a second uninterrupted meal break. Additionally, on the occasions that plaintiff did take a rest break, it was frequently interrupted or cut short.”California labor law also generally requires employers to provide nonexempt employees with a 30-minute meal break within five hours of a work shift, as well as a second meal if the employee works more than 10 hours. Employees can also take 10-minute rest periods for about every four hours they work.Employees were often working outdoors, exposed to extreme heat and were not provided with drinking water, he says.Williams-Dismuk also says NextEra Energy failed to reimburse its employees for using personal cellphones for business, which California law also requires.“Specifically, plaintiff was required to use his personal cell phone to communicate with his supervisors and colleagues regarding job duties and for other work-related purposes, without reimbursement for the use of his personal cellphone or personal data plan,” he says.California has some of the nation’s most protective laws for employee wages and worker rights, including for overtime wages and meal breaks.NextEra Energy, headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is the largest electric power and energy infrastructure company in North America, according to the company. The energy giant has made recent headlines for a potential merger with Dominion Energy to help meet the demand of AI technology.A NextEra Energy spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Attorneys from Work Lawyers PC, representing Williams-Dismuk and the class members, also did not respond to requests for comment.Categories / Courts, Energy, LawSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads