Manufacturer of Oscar, Emmy awards faces class action suit from former employees over vacation time pay out

A Chicago company that makes the famous Oscar and Emmy awards is facing a class action lawsuit accusing it and its president of not paying employees for accrued vacation time.

Angel Montoya, Jesus Gomez, Felipe Hurtado, Ramona Gomez, Maria Chavez, Maria Cristina Miranda, Emma Arocho, Abundio Reyes, Cecilio Florez and Salvador Arrieta filed a class action lawsuit Oct. 17 in Cook County Circuit Court against Owen's Trophies Inc., doing business as R.S. Owens & Co. Inc., and Scott Siegel.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs were employees of the defendant company at its Chicago facility, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with the Warehouse, Mail Order, Office, Technical and Professional Employees Union.

The plaintiffs say Siegel was the president when the defendants informed the union the company would cease operations following an acquisition. They, however, claim the defendants agreed they would pay them the monetary value of the vacation time they had accrued outside their collective bargaining agreement.

The plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, assert they were terminated on Dec. 17, 2013, and have not been paid their earned vacation pay in violation of their contract and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act.

In their suit, the plaintiffs are seeking the vacation pay they allege are owed, as well as damages and attorney fees. They are represented by attorneys Christopher J. Williams, Alvar Ayala and Jenee Gaskin of Workers' Law Office in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014CH16865.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it only represents one side of the story.