Suit claims company has not paid for labor provided for Haitian relief

GALVESTON � Lideres Group Inc. seeks to recover approximately $195,000 from AshBritt Inc. for services it provided last year after an earthquake in Haiti.

Lideres, doing business as Advanced Industrial Services, claims that AshBritt has six delinquent invoices for labor provided for relief efforts in the Caribbean island nation, which was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake last Jan. 12.

In a lawsuit filed Feb. 10 in Galveston County District Court, AshBritt contracted with Lideres to provide screening, interviewing and training for personnel for work in Haiti. AshBritt, in turn, supervised the workers and reimbursed their travel expenses to and from the job site.

According to the original petition, AshBritt paid initial invoices but then failed to make further payments totaling $125,446.78.

Lideres also claims Ashbritt failed to reimburse an injured Lideres employee for his medical expenses of $32,425 and did not properly compensate three workers reportedly hired away from the Lideres for $36,626.

Subsequent formal efforts to secure full payment from the defendant were unsuccessful, the suit states.

It shows that the plaintiff remained in constant contact with its lender regarding the cash flow problems arising directly from the unpaid invoices, but its credit rating and ability to secure future contracts were negatively impacted.

In addition to the specified monetary damages, a jury trial is requested.

Greer, Herz & Adams LLP is representing the plaintiff.

The case has been assigned to Galveston County 10th District Court Judge David Garner.

Case No. 11-cv-0215