Lawyers representing several former employees of the now-shuttered Sanders Brothers Inc. and its various subsidiaries have filed a class action lawsuit to recover back pay owed to workers.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 6 in the Cherokee County Court of Common Pleas, names three former workers of the Gaffney-based company as plaintiffs but seeks to add all others who who are in the same position — specifically former employees who did not receive all the wages they were owed when the company closed its doors.

Filed by Attorneys Douglas Smith of Spartanburg, James Ledle of Mt. Pleasant and Allan Holmes of Charleston, the lawsuit says the exact number of employees still owed money is unknown but that a class action is warranted since it would be beneficial to both the plaintiffs and court system to handle all of the claims in one lawsuit.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are: SBI Properties II LLC, Sanders Brothers Inc., Sanders Brothers Holdings Inc., ProServe Sanders Inc., EP Sanders LLC, Alabama Southeast Mechanical doing business as ASM Sanders Inc., Total Mechanical Services Inc., Sanders Brothers Maintenance Services Inc., Sanders Brothers Fabrication Inc., Sanders Brothers Sumter Inc., Sanders Brothers Construction Inc., Samuel F. Eakins, The Palmetto Bank and Cardinal Point Partners Inc as receiver.

The lawsuit alleges that wages were willfully and intentionally withheld from the three former employees and, as a result, the plaintiffs are entitled to damages “in an amount equal to three times the amount that defendants owe them as unpaid wages.”

Cardinal Point Partners, a consulting and corporate turnaround firm, was appointed by the Cherokee County court as a receiver for Sanders Brothers’ property. A call and e-mail to Cardinal Point Partners seeking more information about the status of Sanders Brothers were not immediately returned.

A call to Sanders Brothers resulted in a recorded message that states:

“Sanders Brothers discontinued operations on or about June 15, 2010. A receiver was appointed by the Court of Common Pleas of Cherokee County, South Carolina, to marshall and secure all assets for liquidation purposes. A secured lender, Palmetto Bank, has a lien on all assets. There will be no excess liquidation proceeds to benefit unsecured lenders.”

Several other lawsuits, besides the class action suit filed by former employees, have been filed in recent weeks by other firms claiming they are owed money.

In June, The Palmetto Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against Sanders Brothers and its loan guarantors, claiming the company was in default on about $10 million in mortgage and loan payments. According to an accompanying affidavit, Palmetto Bank claimed it had been “advised by representatives of (Sanders Brothers) that they are unable to make payments to the bank and will need to terminate employees, insurance and wind down, if not close the business activities.”