An Orleans Parish man filed suit against his former employer alleging wage and payment law violation in a 2015 work-related dispute based on an act of kindness by the plaintiff.
Tony Brown filed a lawsuit against HRI Lodging, doing business in New Orleans, Louisiana. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on June 4. It cited infringement of the Louisiana Wage Payment Act and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The suit stated that Brown was formerly employed by HRI as a non-exempt hourly employee entitled to overtime pay. It specifically references 16 hours of overtime on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 when Brown allegedly covered two shifts to help a co-worker whose grandmother had died.
The plaintiff alleged that HRI violated his FLSA rights by denying him compensation. At the time of his termination in March, Brown asserts that he also had accrued nearly 75 hours in paid time off and that also was purportedly denied.
According to the complaint, HRI Lodging’s refusal to make good on Brown’s wages was willful and deliberate.
Brown requests declaratory judgment, actual damages of back wages, and liquidated damages equivalent to his unpaid wages and benefits. He also wants pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and expenses, and court costs. Brown is represented by Christopher Williams of Williams Litigation in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana Case 2:15-cv-01907-HGB-DEK