WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A Maryland woman is suing Digicon Corporation for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Jacqueline R. Thompson brought her individual action against Digicon to redress its violation of its statutory obligation to pay her overtime compensation, in an amount equal to one-and-a-half times the rate of regular pay, according to a complaint filed Sept. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Specifically, Digicon willfully and purposefully misclassified the plaintiff as an "exempt" employee to circumvent paying overtime wages, the complaint alleges.
Thompson also brings a collective action on behalf of herself and other similarly situated individuals employed by Digicon who have been misclassified as exempt and, as a result, whose overtime wages have been withheld, according to the suit.
Thompson was formerly employed by Digicon and worked on-site at the offices of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, D.C., according to the suit.
Class members include individuals who are current and former employees of Digicon employed as information technology services staff - including technicians, analysts, support analysts, customer support analysts and desktop technicians - who were improperly classified as "exempt" by Digicon.
Thompson was hired by Digicon on Oct. 18, 2010, as a Help Desk Specialist assigned to provide services for Digicon’s federal government contract with the Defense Contract Audit Agency.
Thompson claims she was required by Digicon to work on-site at the CFTC’s office in Washington, D.C., and, in the CFTC position, Thompson’s starting regular weekly salary was approximately $1,250, not including any overtime pay.
Thompson received a raise in July 2012, and her regular weekly salary became approximately $1,294, not including any overtime pay. Despite the CFTC position being identical to the DCAA position, in the CFTC position Thompson was re-classified as an "exempt" employee for FLSA and DCMWA purposes, the complaint says.
In neither position did Thompson hold any supervisory duties or responsibilities, she says.
In both the DCAA position and the CFTC position, Thompson frequently worked more than 40 hours per work week, and was required to inform her supervisor when she did so, she says.
"Although plaintiff regularly worked in excess of 40 hours per work week, at no time while she was working in the CFTC position was Plaintiff paid premium wages (time-and-a-half) for the overtime hours that she worked," the complaint states.
Thompson is seeking class certification, compensatory damages and pre- and post-judgment interest. She is represented by Sharon Y. Eubanks and Catharine E. Edwards of Edwards Kirby LLP.
The case is assigned to District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia case number: 1:14-cv-01597
From Legal Newsline: Kyla Asbury can be reached at classactions@legalnewsline.com.
Class action filed against Digicon Corporation for allegedly violating labor laws
