EAST ST. LOUIS - Serving a lawsuit on an assistant manager at Circle K on North Belt West shouldn’t count as proper process, Circle K argued at U.S. district court on Jan. 22.
Circle K counsel Charles Reis of St. Louis moved to vacate an entry of default in favor of former employee Shyniea Smothers, claiming Circle K learned of her suit on Jan. 18.
“Circle K employs more than 40,000 individuals and has thousands of locations nationwide,” he wrote.
Reis claimed information about its registered agent was available on the website of the Secretary of State.
Attorneys Alexander Taylor and Nathan Volheim of Lombard filed Smothers’s suit in October, alleging racial discrimination.
They claimed Smothers began working as a cashier at Circle K in February 2022.
They claimed Circle K hired a Caucasian manager, Nick Bell, who told Smothers he would replace the whole crew.
“That same day, Mr. Bell told a customer in front of the Plaintiff that he was going to get rid of all the black girls,” they wrote.
Taylor and Volheim claimed Bell cut the hours of African-American crew members.
They claimed that Bell then terminated two and replaced them with Caucasians.
They added that Smothers attempted to report Bell’s alleged unlawful conduct to the store owner, but her complaints were ignored.
They claimed her hours were cut from 40 per week to 17 in retaliation for partaking in protected activity.
The court clerk randomly assigned District Judge David Dugan to preside over the case.
Smothers moved for entry of default in December, claiming process server Pam King Wheetley properly served the complaint and summons.
The court entered default, and Smothers moved for default judgment in January.
Taylor wrote, “Defendant is aware of the instant proceedings and has willfully chosen not to formally enter the case despite proper service and additional notice from the undersigned.”
He claimed Dugan shouldn’t hesitate to impose liability to the fullest extent of the law.
“Defendant has clearly demonstrated a lack of respect for the legal process,” he wrote.
He requested judgment in the amount of $32,822.20.
Reis disputed this account in his motion to vacate the default entry.
He claimed Smothers asserted that her process server listed Tiffany Hayslett as the individual upon whom she served the summons and complaint.
Reis identified Hayslett as assistant store manager at the store where Smothers worked.
He claimed she wasn’t authorized to accept service on behalf of Circle K.
He added that Hayslett is an hourly employee like other Circle K assistant managers, and her duties do not include receiving service of legal documents.
Reis claimed Circle K had legitimate reasons for actions it took concerning Smothers.
He agreed to waive process and asked for ten days to respond to the complaint.
Volheim has filed 54 employment suits at district court in eight years, and Taylor has appeared in half of them.
Fourteen of Volheim’s suits remain pending as of Jan. 23.