The holiday season is a busy time for many corporations and particularly for those tied to the retail industry, increased holiday business usually means that employees have to work longer hours to keep up with consumer demands. Our Aurora overtime attorneys came across a case that illustrates what can happen when employers fail to compensate employees who work extra hours during such times of increased workflow.
In Nunes v. Chicago Import Inc. Plaintiffs worked for Defendant as warehouse laborers responsible for loading and unloading merchandise from delivery trucks and keeping the warehouse organized. In performing these duties, Plaintiffs routinely worked over forty hours per week, and worked seven days a week during the month of December. Plaintiffs were paid a flat rate of $300.00 per week for the first three weeks of the month, and were paid $400.00 for the fourth week. They were paid an additional $50.00 per week in December, but never received hourly or overtime wages for their services. Plaintiffs then filed suit alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL), and asked the Court to issue an Order to Authorize Notice to Similarly Situated Persons under FLSA Section 216(b).
The Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion, holding that it was proper to leniently review the pleadings at this early stage of the litigation. As such, the five sworn declarations submitted by the Plaintiffs established that the representative and pending class members were sufficiently similarly situated to proceed with a class action. Defendants made objections that the proposed notice was too broad, and should not include administrative or executive staff. The Court agreed with Defendant and ordered adjustments to the form of the notice to exclude such employees, but otherwise found in favor of the Plaintiffs and granted their motion to authorize notice.
Lubin Austermuehle has a team of wage claim attorneys who focus on nationwide class action lawsuits and who have been handling overtime cases for years. Our Chicago overtime lawyers are intimately familiar with the issues that arise during wage claim litigation, and we know the laws that govern overtime cases well. When employees do not receive their earned overtime wages, filing a lawsuit can help to recover those unpaid amounts. Lubin Austermuehle is based in Chicago, and represents clients throughout the country who have not been paid for the overtime hours that they worked. If you believe that you are owed overtime wages, contact one of our Waukegan wage and hour attorneys by phone at 1 630-333-0333, or through our online form.