HOUSTON--A Texas child care worker is suing her former employer, alleging failure to pay overtime overtime compensation, even though a U.S. Department of Labor investigation ruled it mandatory.
Senelise Constant, individually and on behalf of similarly situated individuals, filed a lawsuit Sept. 23 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas against A Place for Children in Houston.
According to the complaint, Constant worked as an infant caregiver, generally working more than 60 hours per week. However, the defendant did not pay time and a half for each overtime hour but rather straight time, the suit says.
At the end of the 2014, the lawsuit states, a U.S. Department of Labor investigated and determined, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the infant/toddler caregivers were entitled to overtime and had not been paid appropriately. The plaintiff alleges the defendant regularly threatened employees if non-payment of overtime was reported.
Constant seeks a jury trial, back pay and liquidated damages in the same amount as the owed overtime, application of a three-year statute of limitations for willful FLSA violations, certification as a collective action, plus attorney fees and court costs. She is represented by attorney Shelly M. Davis-Smith of The Davis Law Firm in Houston.
Houston Division of the Southern Division of Texas Case number 4:15-cv-02781.