Twin River employees accuse casino of failing to pay adequate overtime in class-action suit – The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE More than 70 employees at Ballys Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort are accusing the company of violating federal and state fair labor laws by failing to pay them adequate overtime wages and systematically undercutting their weekly paychecks.

Three employees Rebecca Barton, Timothy Bartholomew and Johan Tapia, all of whom travel to work at the Lincoln casino from Connecticut suedBallys Twin River last month in U.S. District Court, alleging the casino was willfully and repeatedly miscalculating its pay for hourly, tipped workers. Dozens more employees who worked at Twin River in the past three years are seeking to join the class-action lawsuit. Those affected include dealers and servers and other tip-based employees.

We think theres substantial money involved, Chip Muller, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said Friday.

Twin River, a state-operated casino that is privately owned, has not yet responded to thelawsuit in court. Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Twin River, said the company declined to comment because the matterinvolves personnel and pending litigation.

According to the suit, the employees worked more than 40 hours some weeks, but were paid 1 times an hourly rate that fell below the required state minimum wage, which amounted to $10.10 per hour before Jan.1 and $12.25 per hour after. Federal fair labor and state laws require the employer to pay an hourly rate of 1 times theregular rate, which cannot be lower than the state minimum wage, for any overtime hours.

The workers also accuse the casino of failing to notify them thatit was paying them a service wage of $2.13 per hour, while taking a tip credit of $5.12 to bring the company up to the $7.25 federal minimum wage. The law states that an employer cannot apply a tip credit without informing the employee.

In addition, the workers allege that Twin River failed to comply with legal requirements that it factor in tip credits and shift premiums, such as an increased differential for late-night hours, when calculating the employees regular pay rate.

Instead, the suit alleges that the casino simply paid employees 1 times a lower service rate for overtime hours. It also accuses the casino of not accounting for shift premiums in determining overtime pay.

Further allegations include that Twin River relies on a time-clock system that rounds work time to the nearest 15 minutesbut partners that policy with instructions designed to under-count hours worked and prohibits workers from punching in more than seven minutes before their shift starts.

The workers are asking the court to determine whether the casino has miscalculated their overtime wages and whether and what damages they are entitled to for the alleged violations in state labor laws.

They are represented by Muller; Nancy Sheinberg; Benjamin Knox Steffans of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Jeffrey S. Morneauof Springfield, Massachusetts.

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Twin River employees accuse casino of failing to pay adequate overtime in class-action suit - The Providence Journal