The employment law attorneys at Feldman Legal Group are providing legal representation in an FLSA class overtime wage lawsuit for those in positions of retail Service Manager, Tech or Mechanic, and Tire Tech for alleged willful, unlawful pay practices by Tire Kingdom in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Not only did Tire Kingdom fail to pay overtime wages, the employer also underpaid employees for the regular hours they worked.
DETAILS ABOUT THE TIRE KINGDOM NATIONAL COLLECTIVE (CLASS) ACTION OVERTIME AND MINIMUM WAGE LAWSUIT
CASE: David Czopek, Chirstopher Knott, David Easlick, and Johnathan Red individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, V. TBC Retail Group, Inc. d/b/a Tire Kingdom. Case No.: 8:14-cv-00675-JDW-TBM United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.
The plaintiffs, former Tire Kingdom retail Service Manager, Tech or Mechanic and Tire Tech, respectively, filed this collective action case for the class of all such similarly situated employees and seek national class certification for alleged willful, unlawful pay practices in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The lawsuit alleges that they were subjected to such unlawful pay practices as shaving of time off time records, forced working off the clock, working through lunches without additional compensation, failure to pay minimum wages for all hours worked up to 40 and failure to pay overtime wages for all hours worked over 40.
Tire Kingdom treated the class of mechanics as exempt from the minimum wage and overtime wage provisions of the FLSA. Our lawsuit alleges as well that tire techs were paid less than minimum wage. Additionally, even when paid for hours worked, our suit alleges that Tire Kingdom willfully underpaid class members by failing to include the payment of non-discretionary incentive payments (bonuses/spiffs) in the calculation of the regular rate of pay as required under the FLSA.
The plaintiffs allege that Tire Kingdom improperly charged employees a fee by distributing pay on a debit card, which included mandatory fees each employee had to pay to receive his or her wages. Moreover, Tire Kingdom had limits on the amount of money each employee could withdraw.
The case has three classes:
Hourly Employee Class: Comprised of all hourly employees who are or were employed within the past three years preceding the filing of the lawsuit;
Mechanic Class: Comprised of all flat rate technicians/mechanics;
Tire Tech Class: Comprised of all tire technicians.
Our lawsuit asks for a judgment against Tire Kingdom and injunction barring the improper and unlawful pay practices. Plaintiffs seek to recover minimum wages for all hours worked that were not paid correctly, overtime wages for all overtime hours worked. Our suit also seeks recovery of underpaid overtime wages, plus an equal sum in liquidated damages, attorney’s fees and costs of the litigation. Plaintiffs intend to seek Certification of the Classes and court-supervised notice to all current and former employees, within the relevant time period of their rights to opt into this suit and claim their wages.
