A complaint filed on Wednesday in the Southern District of Ohio claims that New Beginnings Behavioral Health LLC, its owner and the owner’s two daughter-employees failed to compensate former employee Shonda Crisp for overtime hours worked in violation of Ohio and federal labor law. Crisp contends that the company, allegedly held accountable by the U.S. Department of Labor for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations in 2018 and 2019, owes her approximately 100 hours of unpaid overtime.
The plaintiff explains that she worked for New Beginnings at its transitional/residential housing facility in Ironton, Ohio, from mid-April 2019 until mid-July 2020. Crisp reportedly provided in-house care to patients including observation, ensuring that they had their medications, conducting narcotics anonymous meetings, and keeping track of the defendants’ monitors and cameras.
The complaint states that the plaintiff earned $11.50 per hour for regular time work, with shifts scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Sunday without a specified lunch break. Instead of receiving one and one-half times her regular rate for hours she worked in excess of 40 per workweek, the plaintiff was reportedly told to keep track of those “comp hours” for the potential to take paid time off.
The plaintiff further alleges that New Beginnings failed to timely pay her, in violation of the Ohio Prompt Pay Act. In addition, Crisp asserts that the defendants, when asked, did not provide her with basic payment information, like pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and amount paid to the requesting employee, as state law requires. The five-count complaint seeks back pay, treble damages, statutory damages, and the plaintiff’s attorneys’ costs and litigation fees, among other requests.
The plaintiff is represented by Barkan Meizlish DeRose Wentz McInerney Peifer LLP.
