A Texas woman is accusing her employer of wage and overtime theft. Sherry Shelby filed a complaint under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) accusing Boxer Property Management as improperly classifying her as exempt from overtime. Under the FLSA’s damage remedies, her wage theft claims could result in an award of double damages plus legal fees.
Sherry says that between November 2015 and February 2016 she was classified as exempt from overtime by her employer, Boxer. She says that as an inside (on-site) leasing agent, she should have been paid for all hours worked including time and one half pay for hours in excess of 40 per week.
According to her complaint, Boxer Property Management is a big company managing commercial properties in over 17 national markets. The company employs hundreds of on-site leasing agents. Each Boxer leasing office was typically open from 8:30 am through 5:30 pm. Although allowed a lunch break, agents “regularly worked through lunch.” They were also required to come in 30 minutes early and work until the last customer left.
Agents were also required to work 6 hours on Saturday and give out their cell phone numbers to tenants and be available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. That meant that Sherry and the other leasing agents typically worked at least 50 to 55 hours each week. Unfortunately Sherry claims she wasn’t paid anything for those extra hours, let alone time and one half.
Sherry filed her action as a collective action meaning it is filed on behalf of all Boxer on-site leasing agents. Like all collective actions, the court must approve the class before the case can fully proceed.
FLSA and Wage Theft
Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 just as America was finally beginning to climb out of the Great Depression. The law promised that workers would receive a minimum wage, would be paid for all hours worked and be eligible for time and one half pay for any hours over 40 in a 7 day period. Like all federal laws, there are some exceptions including outside, commissioned sales people.
If wage theft is proven, the FLSA awards workers double damages and requires the employer to contribute to the employee’s legal fees. Workers are also protected against retaliation.
Although some politicians say that our economy is strong, many of the workers we speak with are under employed or making far less than they once did. The gap between the 1%’ers and the rest of the workforce appears to be growing. We believe that wage theft is at an all time high.
If you believe your employer is not paying you proper wages, give us a call. We handle class cases but often take single cases as well. We are currently lead counsel in the pending national wage theft class action on behalf of 160,000 Uber drivers. Whether the case is large or small, the result is the same for individual workers. The FLSA is the best method to money in your pocket and stop wage theft. We take these cases on a contingent fee basis and always seek to recover fees from the employer. That means you are never required to advance any monies out of your pocket.
Need more information? Contact attorney Katherine Holiday at or call at (414) 258-2375. You can also visit our FLSA information page. All inquiries protected by the attorney client privilege and their is never any obligation or fee for calling.
MahanyLaw – Committed to Protecting America’s Workers