On May 18, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida alleging that a man’s former employers owe him for several years of unpaid overtime for working an average of 90 hours a week and receiving just $8 per hour.
The complaint alleges overtime wage violations pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) against Brands Mart, U.S.A. Inc., Ryder LLC, Claude Gregg and Sharpe Delivery Service Inc.
Eduardo Perez is suing as a collective action, noting in the complaint, “It is believed that the defendants have employed several other similarly situated employees like plaintiff who have not been paid overtime and/or minimum wages for work performed in excess of 40 hours weekly from the filing of this complaint back three years.”
Perez worked as a delivery helper for the defendants from 2013 until May. Brands Mart is an electronics and appliance retailer in Atlanta and South Florida. Ryder specializes in fleet management service and chain supply management products. The complaint states that Brands Mart, Ryder and Sharpe Delivery, a freight hauling business, are joint enterprises. Perez claims the work he and others performed was often interstate using company trucks and supplies.
In the filing, Perez alleges that "from May 2015 to November 2018" he worked an average of 90 hours per week and was paid around $120 per day. Perez states he was not paid the overtime wage required by the FLSA for the period alleged.
The complaint states the defendants “willfully and intentionally refused to pay plaintiff’s overtime wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act as defendants knew of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and recklessly failed to investigate whether defendants’ payroll practices were in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Defendants remain owing plaintiff these wages since the commencement of plaintiff’s employment with defendants for the time period specified above.”
The plaintiff is requesting a trial by jury, double damages, court costs and attorney’s fees. Perez is represented by attorneys J.H. Zidell, Esq. and J.H. Zidell, P.A. of Miami Beach, Florida.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case Number 1:18-cv-22003-UU