Allegations that security guards at U.S. Bank Center, the First National Bank Building and other downtown St. Paul properties were not paid overtime rates when they worked at multiple locations have triggered an investigation by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office.

After interviewing at least six current or former security guards, the office’s wage theft division opened a civil investigation into worker overtime practices at Madison Equities, the largest building owner in downtown St. Paul. Requests for pertinent information, including employee payroll records, have been denied, leading both sides to appear in Ramsey County District Court on Wednesday before Judge Sara Grewing.

On Nov. 7, Madison Equities responded to the attorney general’s civil investigative demand by calling it overly broad and filing a motion for a protective order, which seeks to quash it. Kelly Hadac, an attorney for Madison Equities, said his client owns property through 30 or 40 separate legal entities, or limited liability corporations, none of which can be considered joint employers.

Any request for records, he said, should be limited to just the three LLCs where the six guards were employed: Alliance Bank Center, Madison Equities and the First National Bank Center. “If they’re not joint employers, why even go into all the payroll (records)? … It’s going to take hundreds and hundreds of hours to comply,” Hadac said.

The various companies are led by Jim Crockarell, whose name appears on employee paychecks.

Jonathan Moler, who is handling the case on behalf of Ellison’s office, said the security guards all reported to the same supervisor but fanned out to at least 10 different locations throughout Crockarell’s downtown property network. At least one guard, who was also a maintenance worker, claimed the practice of having workers report to multiple locations without receiving overtime rates was common for maintenance staff, as well.

Some employees alleged their paychecks came from First National Bank LLC “when they worked at a totally different building,” Moler said.

The attorney general’s office has also subpoenaed records from Sprint, the cellphone carrier, on the basis that Madison Equities uses cellphones to record when workers check in and out of buildings, raising question about whether those records are protected by federal law.

Grewing said she would take the issue under advisement.

Although Madison Equities is not unionized, security guards have forwarded their complaints through the Service Employees International Union’s Minnesota State Council, a labor organization that represents security guards, janitorial workers and other support staff. Madison Equities responded to the labor union’s fliers and published reports of alleged wage theft with a defamation suit last month against SEIU and security guard Chris Lewis, a former employee who made his allegations public in October.

Lewis has also filed a complaint through the city of St. Paul Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity Department.