Deerfield businessman being sued in federal court by former employee

By DAVID McLELLAN

Staff Writer

Published: 12-18-2019 10:42 PM

SPRINGFIELD — A Deerfield businessman and stonemason is being sued by a former employee for allegedly underpaying for years.

Wednesday was the first day of the federal court trial of Sonam Rinchen Lama, a Tibetan immigrant and master stonemason who owns Sonam’s Stonewalls & Art LLC in South Deerfield.

In U.S. District Court in Springfield, Lama — represented by lawyers from Sweeney Merrigan Law — is being sued by former employee and stonemason Jampa Gonpo for unpaid wages and damages. Gonpo, who filed the case in September of 2016, is being represented by attorneys Rebecca G. Pontikes and John Troy.

The jury trial will continue Thursday before Judge Mark G. Mastroianni. It is unclear how long the trial will last.

According to court documents — and a summary of the case and its procedural history by U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine A. Robertson — Lama is being sued due to an alleged violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which dictates a federal minimum wage, overtime pay for more than 40 hours worked in a week and record-keeping practices, and which also bans child labor.

Specifically, Gonpo says he worked for Lama from Jan. 1, 2008 to Nov. 30, 2015, the court documents state. He claims he started at a salary of $9 an hour, working up to a salary of $14 in that time span. He said he worked, on average, 54.5 hours per week, working up to 10 hours on weekdays and up to eight hours on Saturdays.

However, Gonpo said Lama “consistently” paid him for only 60 hours per month, totaling $840 at a rate of $14 an hour. He alleges he was “never” paid overtime, and Lama failed to keep “full and accurate” records of his work.

In addition, Gonpo claims he used his own vehicle to transport materials to job sites in other states and was never reimbursed for gas or maintenance, the court documents state.

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However, Lama paints a very different picture of the situation.

Gonpo is in custody on charges related to alleged sexual abuse against Lama’s daughter. He was charged and pleaded innocent to aggravated rape and abuse of a child; rape and abuse of a child; and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in April of 2016, filing his lawsuit against Lama a few months later.

Lama claims the lawsuit is an attempt to scare him so criminal charges will be dropped, the court documents state. He denies he withheld pay or improperly paid his employees.

Three other former employees of Lama’s — JamyangGyatso Phulotsang, N.F.N. Tobden and Tulku Dechen — attempted to join Gonpo in a class-action lawsuit against Lama.

All Tibetan immigrants, the three signed affidavits alleging they were consistently underpaid, paid at “irregular” times and never being paid overtime, despite always working more than 50 hours per week.

In their statements, they allege they approached Lama and management on several occasions to complain, and were told they would be paid properly, but it never happened. They also described living in a company-owned dormitory with other Tibetans fleeing persecution from the Chinese government, and that they were reliant on Lama for housing and pay.

However, a federal judge ruled that the statute of limitations for those three workers’ claims had expired, and there was no legal basis to allow them to join the suit.

Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.

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