A former employee of Wood Group Mustang claims he was not paid overtime wages for extra hours worked.
Chris Iannotti, individually and for others similarly situated, filed the complaint Sept. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Wood Group Mustang. The defendant is accused of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL) and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA).
The suit states that Wood Group Mustang is or was a subdivision of John Wood Group and is a “for-profit company that delivers project management, construction management, engineering and procurement services to the offshore, onshore, oil sands, pipeline, refining, chemicals, industrial and automation sectors …”
According to the complaint, Iannotti allegedly began working as a land agent for Wood Group Mustang in January 2015 and stopped working for the defendant in March 2020. Iannotti claims Wood Group Mustang paid him a “day rate,” or a flat wage for each day worked regardless of hours worked and without overtime.
The plaintiff claims that if he worked fewer than 40 hours per week, he was paid a flat rate for the number of days worked. However, he allegedly typically worked more than 60 hours per week but was never paid overtime.
The suit states that the Department of Labor found that the defendant was violating the FLSA in 2012, but it “nonetheless failed to pay day rate employees, such as Iannotti, overtime.”
“Because Wood Group knew, or showed reckless disregard for whether, its pay practices violated the FLSA and IWA, it owes these wages for at least the past three years or longer,” the complaint states.
Iannotti seeks class certification, a judgment awarding the class unpaid overtime, pre- and post-judgment interest, and attorneys’ fees.
He is represented by Rex Burch of Bruckner Burch PLLC in Houston and Douglas Werman of Werman Salas PC in Chicago.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:20-cv-958