Worker Seeks Unpaid Overtime Based on Non Exempt Employee Status

A restaurant employee recently filed a wage and hour lawsuit against his employers, alleging they denied him his rightful non exempt employee benefits.

The Illinois plaintiff, Kei Han Y., began working for Bistro Dragon in August 2008. He says he worked around 58 hours each week, scheduled by his employers. Even though he worked significantly over the 40-hour work week limit, he did not receive overtime wages. He argues the nature of his work makes him a non exempt employee, entitling him to a higher rate of pay for overtime work.

An exempt employee can be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations that require overtime laws. However, Kei Han claims in his lawsuit that he should have been classified as a non exempt employee, thus entitling him to the overtime rules required by the FLSA.

Kei Han filed his FLSA lawsuit against Bistro Dragon, as well as its President, Kevin C., on June 25. The lawsuit was filed not only for himself but also on behalf of other non exempt employees and former employees of Bistro Dragon that may have been denied overtime wages, since Kei Han claims that Bistro Dragon’s compensation policies were applied consistently.

Non Exempt Employee Wage and Hour Regulations

There are a series of both federal and state wage and hour laws put in place to protect workers and ensure they are treated fairly. However, many workers across the country do not know the protections that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) offers.

Staff not knowing the laws of the FLSA can lead to employers taking advantage of them, in some cases requiring unpaid overtime work. Some workers may find themselves unable to file wage and hour complaints like this unpaid overtime lawsuit because they are not aware of FLSA rules.

Other workers may be afraid that their employers will retaliate or even fire them if they speak up about these kinds of FLSA violations. Laws also exist to protect workers from discrimination based on wage and hour complaints, however, to protect workers who help to enforce FLSA rules.

There are penalties for failure to meet wage and hour laws, such as underpayment or unpaid wages, paying wages with insufficient funds, failure to provide meal or rest breaks, failure to provide one day’s rest in seven, failure to pay wages timely upon termination, and unlawful deduction of wages.

Filing a Non Exempt Employee Overtime Lawsuit

If you have worked for an employer like Bistro Dragon that may have failed to follow the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or state labor laws, such as unpaid overtime requirements for a non exempt employee, you may be able to either join a wage and hour class action lawsuit or file a suit of your own.

The Exempt Employee Lawsuit is Yeung v. Bistro Dragon, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-04741, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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