ALLENTOWN – A Reading woman alleges she was terminated in retaliation of reporting the pay practices of her former employer to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
Sara Giannattasio filed a complaint on Jan. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Excellent Pancake Inc., Dine Equity Inc. and Gaurav Arora citing the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law and the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.
According to the complaint, Excellent Pancake operates in IHOP restaurant in Wyomissing where the plaintiff was hired to work as a server in June 2016. She alleges the defendants' automatically deducted 45-minutes per shift for breaks that were not taken and that she was shorted straight time and overtime pay. She also alleges the defendants failed to pay for overtime work at a rate of time-and-one-half her regular rate of pay.
The plaintiff alleges in July 2017, she made a complaint to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and an investigation was opened. She alleges she was retaliated against after reporting the practices and terminated on Aug. 13, 2017.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks order the defendant to prepare a full accounting of all wages due to the plaintiff, pay unpaid wages to the plaintiff, interest, liquidated damages of $500 or 25 percent of the total amount wages due, payment of all overtime worked, front and back pay, treble damages, liquidated damages, consequential damages, unpaid overtime and minimum wages, interest, court costs and any further relief the court grants. She is represented by Scott K. Johnson of Law Offices of Eric A. Shore PC in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 5:18-cv-00176-JFL