Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Because we focus on large-scale overtime class-action lawsuits, the attorneys here at Lubin Austermuehle have helped clients from many different fields recover their unpaid wages. We think it is important for all of our potential clients out there to understand what kinds of issues arise in wage and hour cases, so our Evanston overtime attorneys are always on the look-out for new decisions. In fact, our lawyers discovered a federal case in the Northern District of Illinois that involves workers in the medical industry.
In Howard v. Renal Life Link Inc., Plaintiffs worked for Defendant as dialysis technicians and routinely worked over forty hours each week, but Defendant allegedly deducted any overtime worked and paid Plaintiffs for only forty hours. The named Plaintiff complained to Defendant that she was not being paid properly for all of the time that she had worked, but Defendant allegedly ignored these complaints and continued to deduct any time worked over forty hours each week. Plaintiffs then filed suit alleging that these working hour deductions constituted violations of both the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In response, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 12(b)(6) alleging that Plaintiff failed to supply sufficient factual evidence in the complaint in order to meet the requirements of FRCP 23.
Defendant’s based their argument that Plaintiff failed to allege enough facts because the complaint contained allegations based “upon information and belief” instead of hard evidence. The Court found this argument unpersuasive, however, because FRCP 8 allows such allegations as long as there is sufficient detail in the complaint to make the claims facially plausible. In denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss, the Court held that the issues brought up by Defendant were properly analyzed at the class certification phase of the case, and were not properly brought in a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.
Lubin Austermuehle has a team of wage claim attorneys who focus on nationwide class action lawsuits and who have been handling overtime cases for years. Our Chicago overtime lawyers are intimately familiar with the issues that arise during wage claim litigation, and we know the laws that govern overtime cases well. When employees do not receive their earned overtime wages, filing a lawsuit can help to recover those unpaid amounts. Lubin Austermuehle is based in Chicago, and represents clients throughout the country who have not been paid for the overtime hours that they worked. If you believe that you are owed overtime wages, contact one of our Arlington Heights wage and hour attorneys by phone at 1 630-333-0333, or through our online form.