Wage & Hour Law Case Samples

  1. Six employees worked for a corner market, gas station and check cashing store
    The store almost exclusively hired immigrants, many of whom were undocumented workers, had no social security numbers or had various other paperwork problems with regard to their legal employment status. Many of these employees worked in excess of 70 hours per week, but the company refused to pay them overtime rates for the hours in excess of 40 per week. Whenever employees brought this to the company’s attention, the owner of the company would remind them of their legal status and the fact that they would have a hard time finding another job. Loren Law Group brought suit on behalf of all six employees, one of which had no social security number and had been getting paid in his brother’s name.

  2. Six employees worked as waiters for a popular restaurant
    The company paid them an hourly rate of $3.50, taking advantage of the tip credit which allows a company to pay tipped employees less than the minimum wage as long as their accumulated tips bring their hourly rate above the minimum wage. However, at the end of each day, the company would take 1% of each waiter’s total sales for the day and remove that from their accumulated tips. This money was then used to pay a bonus to the managers and assistant managers. However, employers who take advantage of the reduced tip credit rate are not allowed to keep a portion of the tips for management. Loren Law Group filed suit against the employer to collect the monies due its employees.

  3. A Maintenance Technician Worked For An Air Conditioning Repair Company That Required Him To Arrive At Work Every Day At 8 A.M.
    However, he was then required to wait while the company arranged its orders and decided which technicians would go to which job. The maintenance technicians were not allowed to leave the company promises until they were assigned a job, but the company did not pay them for their time until they received their first assignment. Sometimes the maintenance technicians would wait hours for their first assignment but were not paid for that time. Loren Law Group filed suit on behalf of the employee and were able to find other employees who confirmed that the technicians were not paid from 8:00 am until the time that they received their first job, despite the fact that the company required them to be there.

  4. Employee Worked As A Mail Processor For The United States Postal Service
    At some point during her employment, the government made a payroll processing error and the direct deposit of her two week paycheck was not received. The client worked another 4 days while attempting to resolve this matter, but was unable to do so. As a result, the client was unable to pay her bills and missed the following day due to stress headaches. Because this was over the available number of sick days for the year, the client knew that it would cost her the job and so she also resigned. Thereafter, the client spent several more weeks trying to resolve the matter for unpaid wages but was met with repeated excuses and delays. Loren Law Group filed suit against the United State Post Office.

  5. Employee Worked As An Oil Change Specialist For A Large Auto Dealership
    Employee was unhappy with the behavior of his direct manager and quit his job as a result. When he did, the company refused to give him his last paycheck until he returned the company uniforms that they claimed were issued to him when he first began his employment. The employee informed the company that he had already returned all the shirts that were issued to him and that he had never been issued any pants. However, the company insisted that he had been issued pants and persisted in refusing to issue his last paycheck. Loren Law Group

  6. Employee Worked For A Roofing Company
    He punched in and out every day, but his paychecks were docked 45 minutes per day for lunch. Client never clocked in and out for lunch, and rarely received an actual break for lunch. When he did get a break for lunch, he estimated that it was never more than 10 minutes in length. Employee did not have copies of any of his timecards showing the fact that he worked through his lunches. Loren Law Group

  7. Employee Was A Cook At A Local Restaurant
    Not only did the employer refused to pay overtime rates for hours in excess of 40 per week, but sometimes employee would work as many as 60 hours and only get paid for 40. Employee had no copies of his timecards, but stated that the employer used a computerize time keeping system. On one occasion the employee took an empty box from the premises and put it in his car for use in helping him move to the new apartment. At that time, a co-worker told the owner that the employee had stolen stereo equipment belonging to the DJ and taken it to his car. As a result, employee was suspended for one week without pay. When he came back to the job after his one week suspension, the employer told him that he was being fired for having stolen the stereo equipment. The employer also refused to issue the employee his final paycheck unless he returned the allegedly stolen equipment and the employer stated that they had video tape evidence of the theft. Loren Law Group filed suit against the employer as the withholding of the last paycheck violated the Fair Labor Standards Act as the employee had worked and was not paid at least his minimum wage.

  8. Employee Worked As A Cook For A Restaurant That Had Both Sit Down Dining And Take-Out Business
    The take-out business was incorporated as a separate company. Employee regularly worked in excess of 40 hours per week, but was not paid at overtime rates for his overtime hours. Instead, employee would be paid his first 40 hours per week on one check from the sit down restaurant and all of his overtime hours would be paid on a separate check at straight time rates from the take-out business. Loren Law Group

  9. Employee Worked As A Foreman For A Local Construction Company
    Approximately six weeks after he began working for the company, the owner of the company refused to pay him for his last two weeks of work and accused him of having stolen plywood from a job site. Loren Law Group filed suit on the employee’s behalf to recover his last two weeks of pay, despite the fact that the company had closed its doors and had failed to maintain its legal status. When the employee had first accepted employment with the company, the owner of the company had handed him a business card which listed not only her company but also a much larger construction company on the face of the card. Moreover, when the company first refused to pay the employee’s last two weeks of work, the employer called the larger company and spoke to someone who was fully aware of his employment status with the smaller company and told him that they would look into the matter and get back to him. During the course of litigation, Loren Law Group discovered that the smaller company was not properly licensed and was using the contractor’s license of the larger company. Loren Law Group

  10. Pizza Delivery Drivers for a Major National Pizza Chain Were Not Paid Their Proper Wage Rate
    A major national pizza chain paid its delivery drivers the minimum wage rate for work they performed at the restaurant, and a separate lower tipped rate when the drivers were out delivering pizzas. Loren Law Group filed a collective action on behalf of sixteen pizza delivery drivers that were improperly paid at the lower tipped rate for time they worked in the kitchen.

  11. Clerk In An Adult Bookstore Not Paid Minimum Wage or Overtime
    A local adult book store made its clerk work seven days a week, ten hours a day and only paid him $300 per week. Since the store went out business, Loren Law Group sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act both the individual owner of the company and the parent company that was located out of state.

  12. Call Center Employees Worked But Were Not Paid Weeks of Wages When the Company Closed Down and Reopened Under a New Name in A Different State
    A local telemarketing call center failed to pay dozens of its employees weeks of wages and closed it doors only to reopen under a new name. Loren Law Group sued the new company and its owners and served lawsuit papers in their new home state.

  13. Cable Company Hired A New Employee But Soon Fired Him Without Paying Him His Wages Claiming That He Lied on His Employment Application About His Criminal Record and Refused to Provide Him With a Copy of His Background Check as Required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
    A local cable installation company caused a new employee to work two weeks for free claiming that he was being trained for a new job. At the end of the third week of employment, the employee was told that he was being rejected for employment because a background check (also known as a consumer report) performed through a consumer reporting agency revealed that he did not disclose a felony conviction on his employment application. The employer refused to provide the employee with a copy of the background report. Loren Law Group sued the employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act for the unpaid wages and under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for taking an adverse employment action (i.e. firing) against the employee without giving him a copy of the background check report and for failing to give the required notice letters required under the law. The employer was sued for actual and punitive damages because the employer negligently or knowingly violated the law by not providing the employee with the federally require notice letters advising him that he was being fired based on what is called a consumer report. The employer claimed it was unaware that it could not refuse to hire, fire or demote and employee or rescind a job offer to a new applicant for employment unless it provided the notice letters and a copy of the credit report (background check) which it relied in part or in whole in making the adverse employment decision. Unbeknownst to the employer the employer was not allowed to fire an employee even if the employee lied on his application if the reason for rejecting the employee was based on information obtained from the consumer report (background check).
The above are some of the actual cases we’ve litigated.
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