Limo Driver Seeks Back Pay Through Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

A plaintiff, Phillip S., files an unpaid overtime lawsuit in New Jersey federal court against Limo Express Inc.

According to the lawsuit, Phillip, along with others similarly situated, accuses Limo Express Inc. of allegedly violating federal and state labor laws in failing to pay overtime for additional hours worked.

The defendant, Limo Express, is a chauffeured transportation company located in Hackensack, N.J. According to the lawsuit, Phillip had worked for the company as an employed driver.

However, as the unpaid overtime lawsuit claims, Phillip had worked an excess of 40 hours per week, “without appropriate minimum wage or overtime compensation for the hours that he worked each week.”

Additionally, the unpaid overtime lawsuit contends that the defendant failed to maintain accurate recordkeeping for Phillip’s hours worked and failed to appropriately pay Phillip for any additional hours worked, either at a straight pay or for overtime hours which he should be legally compensated for.

Allegedly, Limo Express maintained a policy and practice of requiring Phillip to work more than 40 hours per week, but they failed to pay him minimum wage in addition to overtime hours that is required by federal and state labor laws.

Phillip files this lawsuit individually and on behalf of those similarly situated alleging the defendant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

According to the unpaid overtime lawsuit, he began working for the company in September 2016 until roughly March 2017. He alleges that according to definitions set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act, Phillip was an employee within the meaning of the FLSA.

The FLSA is a federal employee protection law, administered largely by the United States Department of Labor.

According to the DOL, the FLSA “establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

“Covered nonexempt workers are entitled to a minimum wage of not less than $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Overtime pay at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay is required after 40 hours of work in a workweek.”

According to the lawsuit, although the defendant attempts to classify Phillip as an independent contractor, he meets the requirements for an employee and is therefore entitled to all protections that employees get under FLSA. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants have extensive control over the conditions of his employment, and determined the method and rate of pay for Phillip’s services.

Phillip says he was not able to decline work, could not be hired to perform chauffeur/driving duties at any other company, and could not perform work on days and hours that he chose–he was required to perform work when Limo Express asked him to. All these factors contribute to a finding that Philip was an employee, he claims.

The Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-06704-KM-MAH, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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