EAST ST. LOUIS - Route 13 Diner owner Jimmy Johnson owes more than $3,000 to former cook Dorrine Douglas and more than $7,000 to her lawyer Nathan Volheim of Lombard, U.S. District Judge David Dugan ruled on Feb. 6.
Dugan granted default judgment against Johnson and the diner for failure to answer a wage complaint that Volheim filed for Douglas last October.
Volheim claimed Johnson failed to pay overtime at one and a half times the regular rate.
He claimed Johnson paid Douglas at her regular rate of $16 an hour for 123.25 hours in two weeks, 104 hours in two weeks, and 99.25 hours in two weeks.
Douglas allegedly complained to supervisors about the continuing wage violations and received a message stating she’d be taken off the schedule.
Volheim claimed the message threatened her livelihood, and she became concerned and anxious.
“Fearing that she would be terminated and not wanting a termination on her resume, she was left with no choice but to be constructively discharged on or around August 11, 2023,” he wrote.
Volheim proposed to certify a class action for all current and former employees who were not compensated overtime wages for hours in excess of 40 hours a week.
In December, he moved for entry of default, and the court clerk entered it.
Volheim moved for default judgment on Dec. 29, claiming Johnson was aware of the proceedings and willfully chose not to enter the case.
He sought $1,553.12 for Douglas’s actual damages and an equal amount as liquidated damages under state wage law.
He sought $7,062.50 for his fee and $591.80 for his costs.
Dugan approved the amounts and awarded a total of $10,760.54.
Johnson operates Route 13 Diner at 7309 Old St. Louis Road in Belleville.