Bohrer Brady, LLC has filed a collective action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, on behalf of a former technician alleging that Southern Air, LLC and Trahan’s Heating & Cooling, LLC, failed to properly pay HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and generator service technicians overtime wages owed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The complaint centers on two main pay practices:
- Unpaid “idle time.” Technicians were historically paid straight-time for on-shift idle time (time waiting for work assignments). Starting around September 2025, the suit alleges Defendants stopped counting that idle time as compensable and later, even after reversing course in January 2026, capped idle-time pay so it wouldn’t push a technician’s total hours over 40 in a week, effectively avoiding overtime obligations.
- Commissions excluded from overtime rate. Technicians reportedly earned commissions on “up-sales,” but the companies failed to include these commissions in the calculation of the regular rate of pay for overtime pay, meaning overtime was calculated on a lower base rate than the law requires.
The suit also alleges the two companies are joint employers, with Southern Air (through parent company Apex Service Partners) controlling payroll policy, scheduling, technology systems, and discipline for technicians nominally employed by Trahan’s Heating.
Who May Be Affected
The proposed collective includes:
All current and former service technicians employed by Southern Air, L.L.C. and/or its subsidiary or affiliated entities, including Trahan’s Heating & Cooling, L.L.C., in the United States within the last three (3) years.
Plaintiff alleges the company operates in Louisiana and Mississippi, with the possibility of other affected locations under the broader Apex Service Partners network.
Relief Sought
The lawsuit seeks conditional certification and court-authorized notice to the collective, back pay for unpaid overtime, liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest. Plaintiff also alleges the violations were willful, which, if proven, extends the FLSA’s standard two-year statute of limitations to three years.
