Yorkville, Illinois Overtime Pay Settlement
We obtained a $333,000 overtime pay settlement for cell tower services that challenged the practice of not factoring in all drive time for overtime purposes. The case was closely watched as it wrestled with an important issue of whether driving constituted hours worked under the FLSA. To read more click below:
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Our hard-working Illinois overtime clients alleged that they were not properly paid for their drive time, i.e., the time driving to remote sites.
This page is to provide an update regarding the overtime class action lawsuit against Heights Tower Service, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that time spent on Drive Time (those hours riding in a vehicle as reflected in HTS’s payroll records) were improperly excluded as overtime hours. The Plaintiffs have claimed overtime violations of the Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the Fair Labor Standard Act. Specifically, the Plaintiffs alleged that: (a) the “regular rate” for overtime purposes was improperly computed and (b) Drive Time hours were not counted towards overtime. The Defendants have denied all material allegations in the lawsuit.
The District Court in Chicago, Illinois has granted our request for Class Certification of the Illinois-based overtime claim. The Court also denied decertification of federal Collective overtime claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Here is the order.
We previously sent out a notice to potential employees in Ohio and Illinois to see if they wanted to join the federal overtime claim. We are sending out notice shortly to potential members of the Illinois class to see if they want to exclude themselves from the drive time overtime lawsuit.
As of this posting, the judge has not ruled on who is right or wrong or whether the allegations of the overtime lawsuit have merit.
The employees, in this case, worked in Yorkville, Illinois among other locations.
