Unpaid Overtime Wages Lawsuit Also Cites Gender Discrimination, Battery

A South Carolina woman has filed an unpaid overtime wages lawsuit against her former employer claiming that they refused to pay her the overtime pay she was due.

Plaintiff Charmayne B. was employed by American Moving and Storage from January 2013 until December 2016. She qualified as a non-exempt employee and was paid an hourly wage of $13 per hour.

Exempt employees are exempt from many legal protections for employees like requirements for minimum wage and overtime pay. Non-exempt employees are paid for the time they work; employers are bound by laws that govern how long employees can work and what rate they will be paid if they work over that amount of time.

Charmayne claims in this unpaid overtime wages lawsuit that her work hours were controlled by her supervisor, Patrick B. She claims that he was responsible for hiring her, instructing her and setting the terms and conditions of her employment.

Charmayne alleges that she was required by her employer to work more than 40 hours in a workweek but that she was not paid for her overtime. Federal law states that non-exempt workers must be paid at a rate of one and a half times their regular rate when they work more than forty hours a week.

In December 2016, Charmayne says two male coworkers began engaging in a physical confrontation in Charmayne’s presence. Her unpaid overtime wages lawsuit claims that she attempted to break up the fight between her colleagues. One of her coworkers that was engaged in the fight, Ralph M., allegedly told Charmayne to “mind her own business” and then proceeded to hit her in the face.

The police came to assess what had happened and spoke to witnesses at the scene. The owner of American Moving and Storage, Kevin A., told Charmayne that if she pressed charges she would be fired, she claims.

She didn’t press charges, but was nonetheless placed on suspension by the owner. She claims she was terminated for “fighting,” yet the two male coworkers kept their jobs.

Charmayne believes that American Moving and Storage violated her rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act, (FLSA), for unpaid overtime wages by not paying her properly for the hours worked over forty hours in one week.

She is also filing this lawsuit on claims of gender discrimination. Charmayne names both the owner of American Moving and Storage as well as the male coworker who hit her as additional defendants in this unpaid wages lawsuit.

She claims that both the owner as well as the company itself treated her “less favorably than male employees, disciplining her for certain alleged acts while not disciplining male employees for the exact same acts, depriving her of economic opportunities, and terminating her employment while allowing male colleagues to retain their jobs.”

She is also bringing forth a claim of battery against the male colleague who hit her during the physical confrontation. Charmayne alleges that the coworker “intentionally punched” her in the face and that this punch “constitutes unlawful and offensive touching” of her without her consent.

This Unpaid Overtime Wages Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-02821 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

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