Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog
A minimum wage case that recently came before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions control federal lawsuits in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) is an example of how employees with legitimate Fair Labor Standards Act claims can still lose if they proceed without counsel and get tripped up by procedural requirements such as the statute of limitations. The case and its outcome make for a noteworthy cautionary tale about the risks of proceeding without a skilled Atlanta minimum wage lawyer advocating for you and monitoring procedural deadlines like the statute of limitations.
The employee, M.M., worked at a pet store in Florida for approximately three weeks in August 2018.
According to the employee, she worked full-time as a certified veterinary technician at a salary of $35,000 per year. According to the pet store, M.M. was a part-time kennel technician.
The employee received her first paycheck on August 31. The $184 gross total was unsettling, so she sent her supervisor a text message to complain and to raise the possibility of taking legal action. The pet store promptly terminated the woman’s employment. According to the employer, the technician received a second (post-termination) paycheck on September 14.
The employee retained an attorney in the fall of 2018, but the two soon parted ways, and M.M. set out on her own. In September 2020, the technician filed a federal lawsuit alleging, among other things, minimum wage violations under the FLSA based on the amount the pet store paid her.
The case went to trial, and the jury’s verdict was a case of “good news, bad news, and worse news” for the employee. The jury agreed with the technician that the pay she received violated federal minimum wage law. The jury, however, also decided that the employer’s minimum wage violations were not done “knowingly.”
The FLSA Limitations Period: 2 Years… or 3 Years
That latter determination ultimately doomed the technician’s entire FLSA claim. The FLSA has a specific statute of limitations (the window of time the law gives you for seeking compensation for violations) that applies to minimum wage violations. Generally, employees have two years, except when the employee proves to the court that the employer’s violations were willful. In those latter scenarios, the employee has three years.
In M.M.’s case, she had a legitimate claim demonstrating a minimum wage violation that was not a willful one. That meant she had two years to take action. The violation in her case took place on August 31, 2018. She sued in September 2020, meaning that she waited more than two years to file a complaint, and the statute of limitations wiped out her entire minimum wage claim.
Successfully pursuing a minimum wage or unpaid overtime claim under the FLSA requires many elements, including an in-depth knowledge of the facts surrounding the alleged violation. It also requires a detailed understanding of the law and the rules of procedure, as there are many factors (such as the statute of limitations) that are unrelated to the case’s facts but can doom an employee’s entire complaint. To ensure these rules do not wipe out your minimum wage case, do not make the mistake of proceeding on your own. Instead, put the power of the Atlanta minimum wage attorneys at the law firm of Parks, Chesin & Walbert. Our team is well-versed in handling these types of FLSA cases and is ready to get to work for you. Contact us through this website or at 404-873-8048 to schedule a consultation today.