TakingCharge999's legal rights are covered directly under United States Code TITLE 29 CHAPTER 8—FAIR LABOR STANDARDS.
Anytime you work more than 40 hours in a workweek you are to receive overtime pay. Overtime pay is one and one-half times your regular hourly rate of pay, although special exceptions apply with respect to certain professions and positions, such as police officers, managers, and hospital / nursing home employees. The employer can be subject to both federal and state overtime laws because some states have passed overtime laws in addition to federal law.
In certain situations, employees can legally be paid less then time-and-a-half for overtime hours. If an employee who is eligible for overtime receives commission as part of his compensation, his overtime pay only needs to include one-half the hourly amount he receives for commission (though his base pay, if he receives any, should still be paid at time-and-a-half).
If you have been unlawfully denied overtime or the minimum wage, you may file suit in either state or federal court. If she wins the lawsuit her employer is obligated to pay all the court costs and her costs for the lawsuit.
If your employer unlawfully withheld some of your overtime pay, chances are the company has done this to other employees as well. You can bring suit on behalf of other non-exempt employees at the same company, past and present, in a class action suit. However, for this type of class action, other employees must agree to be plaintiffs in a written form that will be filed with the court. This is a common and cost-effective way to deal with overtime violations, which in some companies may have been carried out on a large scale.
Once you have proven that you worked some hours that were not properly compensated, your employer is obligated to provide records of the exact amount of time that you worked. If your employer failed to keep complete or accurate records of your hours or pay, the courts may award damages using an estimate based on information from you.
It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you or terminate you for speaking up and filing a lawsuit in order to collect your minimum wage and overtime.
Reference:
29 U.S.C. 216(b).
29 U.S.C. 255(a). Id.
See 29 U.S.C. 216(b). Id.
See Secretary v. DeSisto, 929 F.2d 789, 792 (1 st Cir. 1991); Brumbelow v. Quality Mills Incorp., 462 F.2D 1324, 1326 (5 th Cir. 1972); Wirt v. Mississippi Publisher’s Corp., 364 F.2d 603 (5 th Cir. 1966); Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 U.S. 680, 66 S.Ct. 1187 (1946); Reich v. Stewart, 121 F.2d 400, 400-406 (8th Cir. 1997); Reich v. Southern New England Telecommunications Corp., 121 F.3d 58, 66-67 (2nd Cir. 1997);
Marshall v. Mamma’s Fried Chicken, Inc. 590 F.2d 598 (5 th Cir. 1979).
TakingCharge999 lawsuit concerning her car accident, "So I overworked a total of 160 extra hours last month. My car crash was directly related to my exhaustion since I had been working without resting and since 11 PM Fri until 6 PM Sat when I crashed." This is considered a tort case and as a matter of fact. She has the legal grounds for a lawsuit.
Once again I recommend that she speaks with her attorney!