HOUSTON — A Kingwood man is suing a local company, alleging he was misclassified as an employee and therefore denied benefits to which he was entitled.
James Griffin, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a class action complaint Aug. 26 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas against Jon R. Llewellyn Inc., doing business as Llewelyn Corp of America, and Sharon Llewellyn, alleging violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
According to the complaint, in May 2017 Griffin was promoted to director of business development by Sharon Llewellyn and given a position description that was full time. But the defendant allegedly continually misclassified the plaintiff as an independent contractor, a violation of federal and state employment laws.
The suit states although Llewelyn Corp. made some statements that led Griffin to believe it would remedy the misclassification, it failed to do so and ultimately retaliated against the plaintiff for his complaints of being misclassified.
The plaintiff alleges Llewelyn has failed in a number of its responsibilities, including failing to pay Griffin overtime as required by FLSA, failing to pay commissions and fraudulent misrepresentations.
Griffin seeks trial by jury, designating Griffin as a class representative, $5,000 for each year of violations, attorney fees, court costs, interest and all just and necessary relief. He is represented by attorney J. Alfred Southerland of Southerland Law Firm in Houston.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas case number 4:19-CV-03205