EAST ST. LOUIS — An Illinois-based real estate brokerage and its maintenance company are being sued for allegedly failing to pay workers overtime pay.
Kyle Jurcich, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint April 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois Eastern Division against Christone Enterprises Inc., E.L.M. Construction Inc., Christopher Mendola P. and Christopher B. Mendola, alleging violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and violation of the Illinois Minimum Wage Law.
According to the suit, the defendants handle more than 13,000 rental units. Jurcich claims he was a full-time maintenance technician for the defendants from August 2016 through December 2016. He was paid "various hourly rates" of between $12 and $17 per hour for "primary duties consisting of non-exempt manual labor" and worked between five and 25 hours of overtime. He claims that he and other class members who worked in excess of 40 hours per week were compensated for the overtime hours by being paid "mileage reimbursement" and at the "straight time hourly rate" no matter how many hours he worked each week.
Jurcich alleges the defendants violated federal and state laws by failing to pay employees one-and-one half times their regular pay rates for their overtime.
The plaintiffs seek monetary relief, trial by jury and all other just relief. They are represented by Michael Fradin in Skokie, James Simon of The Law Offices of Simon & Simon in Independence, Ohio, and Clifford Bendau, II and Christopher Bendau of Bendau & Bendau PLLC in Phoenix.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois Eastern Division case number 3:21-CV-00358-GCS