Recently, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri approved the settlement of a collective action wage lawsuit--filed by Riggan Law Firm, LLC (in St. Louis) and Crone & McEvoy, PLC (in Memphis)--for the total amount of $217,500. The lawsuit was originally filed in May 2011 on behalf of a group of inside sales representatives (called "liner" salespersons and "closer" salespersons) who worked for Roark Travel Service Network, LLC, a Branson, Missouri-based company that is engaged in the sale of travel and vacation packages, among other business ventures.
In the lawsuit, the Planitiffs alleged: (1) that they worked more than 40 hours per week and were not paid one-and-one-half times their regularly hourly rate of pay for overtime hours; and (2) that they were not paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours that they worked in each workweek. The Plaintiffs, who were paid solely on commission and were not provided with a guaranteed draw or salary, claimed that their compensation arrangement violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and Missouri law.
The total settlement amount of $217,500 was broken down as follows: (1) the Plaintiff Class (consisting of 24 salespersons) will recover $88,442.92 as compensation for their claimed unpaid wages and statutory liquidated damages; (2) the lead/representative Plaintiff will receive a $5,000 incentive award for her services as the class representative; and (3) counsel for the Plaintiff class will receive $124,057.58 in attorneys' fees and costs/expenses.
After holding a hearing to inquire into the fairness of the settlement, the Court found that the settlement reached by the parties was fair, adequate, and reasonable. The Court's Order approving the settlement was entered on February 13, 2013.
