Kindergarten teacher sues after losing job

SHERMAN - A kindergarten teacher at a private childcare facility has filed a lawsuit arguing she lost her job after she complained about not being properly paid for overtime hours.

Laura Beytia filed suit against Allen Cr�me de la Creme on July 7 in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.

Beytia was hired by the defendant in 2008 as a non-exempt kindergarten teacher and ultimately, her job responsibilities including monitoring numerous classrooms at the childcare facility. She states she often worked in excess of 40 hours per week and was required to attend meetings and other after-hour events for which she was not compensated.

She claims she complained to the executive director about the lack of compensation and lack of proper payment policy, but was ignored. As a result, she took her complaints to the defendant's corporate office.

Although she was officially terminated for providing milk to a child with milk allergies, Beytia states this was a pretextual reason and the defendant's real motive for her termination stemmed from her complaints regarding her wages.

The defendant is accused of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to properly pay Beytia and by terminating her when she complained about the overtime violations.

The plaintiff is seeking an award of damages for lost wages, including back pay and front pay, liquidated damages, interest, attorney's fees and court costs.

Beytia is represented by Michael E. Coles, Dustin A. Paschal and Paul W. Simon of The Coles Firm P.C. in Dallas. A jury trial is requested.

Case No. 4:11-cv-00427