EAST ST. LOUIS - A former employee of the Buncombe Public Water District claims she was expected to help two male coworkers perform their job duties without additional compensation.
In the federal lawsuit, plaintiff Karen Dunn alleges she was hired as the district's office manager in 1995. She also "served as secretary and treasurer of the Board of Trustees for approximately 10 years, until defendant decided that an employee could not hold both of those positions."
"Defendant then got a male to fill the treasurer role and paid him a $50 per month stipend that had never been paid to Ms. Dunn for her work as treasurer," the suit states. "Nevertheless, the male did not do the job, which resulted in Ms. Dunn continuing to perform the duties of treasurer without compensation in addition to her office manager job."
Dunn claims the defendant also employed a man as a water supply operator on a part-time basis, who was "frequently unable to perform many necessary functions because he also worked an unrelated full-time job."
As a result, Dunn allegedly learned to do many parts of the water supply operator's job. She had to carry an agency cell phone in addition to her personal cell phone, as she was allegedly on call 24/7 for water emergencies. She claims male employees were reimbursed for the costs of using their personal cell phones, but she did not receive any phone reimbursements.
"When the water supply operator retired, defendant wanted to add the full range of those duties to Ms. Dunn in addition to her office manager job and uncompensated treasurer work," the suit states.
"Ms. Dunn had no choice but to resign because of Defendant’s continued pressure to take on that job even while she was on workers’ comp leave for a shoulder injury she suffered while doing Water Supply Operator duties," it continued.
The defendant then allegedly hired a woman to perform the office manager duties and two male employees to do the field work Dunn had been required to perform.
Dunn seeks unspecified monetary damages to compensate for her lost wages, alleged emotional distress, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, and mental anguish. She is represented by D. Wes Sullenger of Sullenger Law Office in Paducah, Ken.
U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-cv-3015