TEXARKANA, Arkansas -- A civil suit filed in federal court in Texarkana last week accuses a local contract delivery service of failing to pay a worker's overtime in violation of state and federal law.
The suit, filed Wednesday on behalf of Miller County resident Kayla Pike, alleges that GRKSTL Transportation failed to pay drivers in accordance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act. Pike is represented by Little Rock-based Sanford Law Firm.
The complaint seeks designation as a collective action, meaning other individuals who worked over 40 hours in a week for GRKSTL as a delivery driver within the three years before the complaint was filed may consent to join the action as plaintiffs along with Pike.
"Plaintiff is unable to state the exact number of the collective but believes that the collective exceeds 15 persons," the complaint states.
GRKSTL's registered owner, Joe Gay, said he has not yet seen a copy of the complaint and was unaware of its filing.
According to the complaint, GRKSTL contracts with FedEx to deliver packages. The complaint alleges that Pike and other employees whose duties included loading packages onto trucks and delivering them, were classified as exempt employees and paid a set rate each day regardless of how many hours were worked.
"Plaintiff's pay was listed as 'salary' on her paystubs, but she did not receive a weekly minimum guarantee," the complaint states. "Plaintiff and other delivery drivers were not paid for days they did not work. In other words, their pay was docked when they worked fewer hours."
Bonuses were allgedly paid to employees who worked "extra days."
The complaint alleges that GRKSTL drivers were "misclassified" as exempt employees and should have been paid time-and-a-half for any hours worked in excess of 40 in a given week as is required for non-exempt workers.
The complaint seeks a declatory judgment that GRKSTL violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and Arkansas Minimum Wage Act and seeks certification as a collective action. Damages for unpaid overtime wages, damages allowed by statute under the FLSA and AMWA and attorney fees are asked for, as well.
The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas.