SHERMAN-A federal class action has been filed against a chain of tanning salons for allegedly not paying its employees overtime wages.
Claiming violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Kristin Bennington filed a lawsuit against Palm Beach Tan Inc. on Sept. 20 in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.
Bennington, who was employed as an assistant store manager and a manager, accuses the defendant of paying non-exempt employees a salary to avoid paying overtime wages.
She claims her job duties only constituted a small percentage of managerial duties. As an assistant manager and manager, she spent the majority of her time cleaning the tanning beds, operating the cash register, assisting customer and stocking merchandise.
Therefore, Bennington argues, the positions are misclassified as exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
On behalf of the proposed class, Bennington is asking the court for an award of overtime wages, liquidated damages, attorney's fees and costs.
Bennington is represented by Timothy M. Dortch of Cooper & Scully in Dallas.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider is assigned to the case.
Case No. 4:10cv00489