April 15th, 2025
Posted By
Kerry V. O’Brien

On May 25, 2023, the O'Brien Law Firm filed a lawsuit in federal court in Houston on behalf of a group of former Field Inspectors of Global Estimating Services, Inc., a sister company of Access Restoration Services US, Inc., for unpaid bonuses and overtime. The firm first reported about the lawsuit here. The case gained public interest within the insurance industry because of its connection to the serious fraud apparently committed by the Houston law firm of McClenny Moseley & Associates, with whom GES and ARS were both conducting business that was related to MMA's allegedly fraudulent activities. The O'Brien Law Firm's lawsuit was reported in the The Advocate and in Claims Journal, for instance. The case grew to 21 Field Inspectors, all seeking unpaid bonuses and with most seeking overtime pay for substantial post-hurricane inspection work performed under difficult conditions.

After nearly two dozen depositions and hundreds of hours of work by the attorneys on both sides, in October 2024, the O'Brien Law Firm was able to secure settlements for 9 of its 21 clients. In January 2025, the firm got 9 more clients' cases settled, leaving 3 remaining Field Inspectors to have their outcome to be determined at a combined trial.

On April 1, 2025, the O'Brien Law Firm firm led those three clients into trial in front of Judge Charles Eskridge of the federal Southern District of Texas. GES, ARS, and individual defendants Nathan Normoyle and Michael Needham (both formerly with ARS) were represented by the Andrews Myers Law Firm. By the afternoon of the first day of trial, Judge Eskridge expressed outrage that GES had not yet paid any of these three employees a dime - not even the amounts that were based on the company's own calculations - threatening to possibly hit the company with "millions and millions" of dollars of penalties if the law allowed him to do so. On the morning of the second day of trial, GES/ARS's attorneys requested a trial break, and during that break, the company and these 3 remaining Field Inspectors settled their cases.

Early on, a number of the Field Inspectors expressed their pessimism that they didn't expect to see a dime from GES and ARS. However, the O'Brien Law Firm is proud to have worked tirelessly to get each of these hardworking employees a satisfying outcome. "I'm really happy for our clients," attorney Kerry O'Brien said. "They each deserved not just financial justice, but also the satisfaction of taking action to hold these companies accountable. And for me personally, I feel like I did some of the best work of my career in this case. This is why I do what I do."