The full order can be read here. 

In April 2018, our client began working at Eclipse Advantage, LLC. as an Industrial Athlete. When he was hired, Eclipse told our client he would be paid weekly and based on “productivity” rather than at a set rate. Specifically, Eclipse told our client the more trucks he unloaded in less time, the more money he would make. 

Our client, as well as similarly situated workers (Putative Class Members), were not given a set work schedule and hours worked depended on a variety of factors, including how busy it was in any given week. Additionally, Eclipse paid Putative Class Members different rates for the same hours in the same position. 

The Putative Class Members were not properly compensated for hours worked and in general, did not receive overtime pay, even if they worked more than 40 hours during a work week. Eclipse Advantage, LLC. deducted time from the Putative Class Members’ shifts to prevent them from receiving overtime. Specifically, Eclipse deducted lunch breaks from each employee’s shift even though Putative Class Members were so busy they were unable to take a lunch break. 

The Court certified the Settlement Class as all Industrial Athletes who worked at Eclipse from April 14, 2017 through January 8, 2021, therefore the Class Members will receive financial benefits from the Settlement Fund. 

In January, our client was terminated from his job at Eclipse Advantage, LLC. after calling off work due to exhaustion and raising issues concerning his unfair pay.

The court’s certification of the settlement finds the Settlement Agreement is “fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interest of the Settlement Class Members.”

Kennedy Hunt, P.C. believes employees deserve fair pay and equitable working conditions. Our recent win grants our client and the Settlement Class Members relief and requires Eclipse to pay them through the Settlement Fund.    

For further information about this case, please contact attorney Sarah Jane Hunt at (314) 872-9041 or sarahjane@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of unpaid wages and/or employment discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim. 

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Throughout her entire employment, our client was subjected to a magnitude of unwanted sexual comments by Mr. Mahurin. Mr. Mahurin sexually harassed our client through comments, jokes, lewd insinuations and advances. Things worsened every time she told Mr. Mahurin to stop or that she would not participate in his jokes and lewd comments. Our client received worse treatment than other female coworkers that allowed Mr. Mahurin’s conduct toward them and did not rebuff his advances. Another manager, Ms. Henson, began making work environment unbearable for our client, doing things that made it increasingly difficult for our client to perform her job duties. Our client reported the harassment from Mahurin at the end of March 2018. She was demoted and moved out of her office the following day. Our client was terminated three months later. 

By subjecting our client to such a hostile work environment, the County of St. Francois violated the Missouri Human Rights Act. The County was aware of the actions of Mr. Mahurin but did nothing to remedy the ongoing harassment and misconduct. Instead, once the new prosecutor in St. Francois County was appointed, our client was offered her job back and was told she should not have been fired. But the job was promised on the condition she opt not to sue St. Francois County. Our client denied. Our client is seeking damages, including lost wages and benefits, reinstatement, front wages, garden variety emotional distress damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post- judgment interest and attorney’s fees and costs. 

Tony Messenger, columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, recently published an article on the lawsuit. Vice writer Jelisa Castrodale wrote about this as well. For further information, please contact attorney MaryAnne Quill at 314-880-4463 or mquill@tkennedylaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.

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Our client began working for the Belleville Police Department on July 20, 2015 as a secretary in the Operations Division. Captain Moody was her direct supervisor. Our client asserts that Moody and other department employees frequently made sexual jokes and comments loudly in her presence, making it difficult for her to concentrate on her work. In 2017, after she attended a sexual harassment training, Moody began making sexual comments about our client’s voice. This created an environment where our client felt as if she could not speak out loud for fear of being sexualized and teased. Our client claims that Moody continuously harassed, degraded, and humiliated her in front of other employees. 

In 2018, our client reported Moody’s conduct to a member of human resources. Afterward, our client was assigned to temporarily work in the records department. When she was hired in 2015, Moody told her that he punished employees he did not like by sending them to the records department. While in this department, our client met a colleague who was sent to records after complaining about Moody’s sexual misconduct. 

When our client returned from the records department, she endured worse treatment from Moody. On one occasion, Moody called our client into his office and directed her to sign the sexual harassment form in front of him. Understandably, our client wanted to review the information on the document before signing it, which led Moody to become visibly upset. He yelled and slammed his fists on the desk in a threatening manner. The next day, Moody threatened our client, saying that he would not write her a good review unless she signed the form.

After this, our client complained about Moody’s behavior to Ms. Favre, the director of human resources. Favre informed our client that Clay was “disappointed in her” for complaining about Moody. Still, an investigation ensued, which resulted in the department moving our client to an office on the third floor and took no action against Moody, which did not make our client feel safe. Our client requested additional measures to keep her safe from Moody. No measures were put into place and instead Favre questioned our client on if she was quitting her job. In October 2018, our client received a letter from Defendant Clay stating that she voluntarily resigned from her job. The lawsuit seeks lost wages and benefits, reinstatement, front wages, emotional distress damages, compensatory damages and punitive damages.

On May 29, 2020, Moody filed a motion to dismiss. On June 2, 2020, the City of Belleville and Clay filed a motion to dismiss. The court denied both motions. 

This case is ongoing. For more information, contact attorney MaryAnne Quill at mquill@kennedyhuntlaw.com.  If you or someone you know has been a victim of employment issues, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.

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In April 2018, our client began working at Eclipse Advantage, LLC. as an Industrial Athlete. When he was hired, Eclipse told our client he would be paid weekly and based on “productivity” rather than at a set rate. Specifically, Eclipse told our client  the more trucks he unloaded in less time, the more money he would make. 

Our client, as well as similarly situated workers (Putative Class Members), were not given a set work schedule and hours worked depended on a variety of factors, including how busy it was in any given week. Additionally, Eclipse paid Putative Class Members different rates for the same hours in the same position. 

The Putative Class Members were not properly compensated for hours worked and in general, did not receive overtime pay, even if they worked more than 40 hours during a work week. Eclipse Advantage, LLC. deducted time from the Putative Class Members’ shifts to prevent them from receiving overtime. Specifically, Eclipse deducted lunch breaks from each employee’s shift even though Putative Class Members were so busy they were unable to take a lunch break.

When our client asked why he was not paid overtime for a week in which he worked 70 hours, he was told that he was not paid overtime because “so many guys hit overtime.”

Our client, a Black man, also alleges Eclipse Advantage, LLC discriminated against him during his employment, which resulted in his wrongful termination. 

Eclipse Advantage, LLC. uses a 12-point system to keep track of attendance issues, such as lateness or skipped shifts. The defendant claimed that any employee who accumulated more than 12 points would be fired, but our client alleges that while Black employees are held to this standard, white employees are not. 

Shortly after calling off work due to exhaustion, and raising issues concerning his unfair pay, our client was terminated from his job at Eclipse Advantage, LLC. 

Our client is seeking to recover compensation, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs both individually and on behalf of his Putative Class Members for unpaid wages. Additionally, our client is individually seeking to recover liquidated and/or punitive damages, compensatory damages, lost wages, and attorney’s fees and costs for his retaliatory termination. Our client is also seeking lost wages, compensatory damages, and attorney’s fees and costs for his wrongful, discriminatory termination.

This case is ongoing. For further information, please contact attorney Sarah Jane Hunt at (314) 872-9041 or sarahjane@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of unpaid wages and/or employment discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim. 

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The lawsuit alleges Plaintiff often worked in excess of forty hours per week,  but did not receive overtime pay.  The suit also alleges that, during her employment, Plaintiff  became aware that Defendant was committing fraud by billing for procedures he never performed and by performing unnecessary procedures on Medicaid patients to obtain increased reimbursement from private insurance plans and MO Healthnet. 

The lawsuit alleges Plaintiff was terminated after repeatedly notifying her superiors that she and other co-workers were not receiving overtime pay, and  reporting  her concerns over the unlawful billing practices.

Under the Missouri Minimum Wage Law, employees like Plaintiff are owed overtime pay. This law mandates employees to be paid at least minimum wage for all hours worked in each workweek, and also to be compensated at a rate of not less than one and a half (1 ½) times the regular rate of pay for any hours worked in excess of forty in a workweek.  Additionally, Missouri public policy protects individuals from wrongful termination for reporting unlawful practices to a supervisor or an outside agency.

In the lawsuit, Plaintiff seeks recovery of unpaid overtime wages, statutory liquidated damages, as well as lost wages and benefits, emotional distress damages, punitive damages; and attorney’s fees and court costs.

The Law Office of Thomas E. Kennedy, III, L.C. represents clients in both Missouri and Illinois.  We have experience litigating employment cases that involve wage and hour issues as well as wrongful termination. If you believe you are not being paid correctly, or you have been wrongfully terminated from your job, contact us so we can evaluate your claim.

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