PHILADELPHIA - An employee is suing her former company, alleging federal and state employment law infringement.
Talitha Stump of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit June 22 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against DAJ Wireless Company and Debra Spence, both of Philadelphia, alleging multiple violations of employment law during her 2013-15 tenure with the business.
According to the complaint, the defendants failed to pay Stump proper overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, and the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Act during her period of employment.
Stump, a sales associate for the defendant’s cell phone plan provider business from late fall 2013 until late May 2015, alleges she was a non-exempt employee within the meaning of FLSA law.
She contends DAJ Wireless paid her in cash on a commission-only basis with no hourly wage until April 2014, when the suit says the defendant placed her on the payroll at a rate of $7.25 per hour plus 10 percent commission per sale.
The plaintiff regularly worked over 40 hours weekly, the lawsuit states, and Stump maintains DAJ paid her at an overtime rate of $10.88 per hour but did not include her commissions in its calculations. The suit says Stump's employer failed to seek approval from company headquarters prior to instigating their policy, and the defendants violated federal and state employment law.
Stump seeks liquidated damages in an amount equal to actual calculated damages, attorney fees and costs. She is represented by attorneys Manali Arora, Richard Swartz and Justin Swidler of Swartz Swidler in Cherry Hill, N.J.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:15-cv-03498-JS.