BENTON - St. Clair County emergency management employees Ann Ellis, Candis Cross and Tina Joaquin agreed to settle claims that the county shorted their pay.
Mediator Stephen Williams of Belleville notified Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert of the agreement on Oct. 8.
Ellis sued the county in July 2023, claiming it didn’t pay her for breaks she couldn’t take and didn’t pay time and a half when she worked more than 40 hours a week.
Cross and Joaquin claimed in a separate suit that the county failed to pay them for overtime from January 2022 to February 2023.
Their counsel Alan Crone of Memphis alleged violations of state and federal laws.
Gilbert referred the parties to mandatory mediation and set trial this Oct. 21.
County counsel Garrett Hoerner of Belleville moved to dismiss the complaints for failure to state claims for relief.
He claimed the county complied with state and federal laws.
He claimed if any improper conduct occurred, any persons engaging in it did not act as the county’s employees or agents.
He asserted tort immunity for local government.
In the alternative he moved for more definite statements about times and amounts of alleged overtime and who plaintiffs communicated with about the situation.
Gilbert denied the motions in January, finding Ellis, Cross and Joaquin pleaded sufficient facts to plausibly suggest they had a right to relief.
“More definite statements are most often reserved for complaints that are unintelligible, not those that simply lack detail," he wrote.
He found the pleadings were far from undecipherable or unintelligible.
He found many of the details the county apparently sought were likely within its own records.
He found enough facts to paint a picture of regular violations and ordered the county to answer the complaints in 14 days.
He postponed trial to next Feb. 10.
Hoerner answered and the litigation stalled while the parties prepared for mediation.
Gilbert set an Aug. 23 deadline for mediation and on that date Crone moved for an extension.
Gilbert extended it to Oct. 15 and by that time mediation had succeeded.
He gave the parties 60 days to consummate the settlement.