LAFAYETTE – Current and former direct service workers with businesses based in Lafayette allege they were misclassified so their employers could circumvent requirements to pay overtime wages.
Shantel Sheree Istre, Jane Armstead, Annie Mae Lewis, Latonia Alfred and Verges Anderson, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on Jan. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Acadiana Community Based Services Inc., Acadiana Alternatives Staffing Inc., Timothy L. Mankin and Crystal Alsandor alleging that they violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that they worked on average more than 74 hours per week without being paid time-and-a-half of their hourly rate for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. The plaintiffs holds Acadiana Community Based Services Inc., Acadiana Alternatives Staffing Inc., Mankin and Alsandor responsible because the defendants allegedly misclassified them as independent contractors, failed to pay overtime compensation and failed to maintain accurate pay records.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek compensation for unpaid overtime wages plus interest, liquidated damages, costs of litigation and such other declaratory, injunctive and equitable relief. They are represented by Kenneth D. St. Pé in Lafayette.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division Case number 6:17-cv-00085