Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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HERMAN, Pa -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that a lawsuit has been filed against The Summit Academy for alleged failure to pay overtime to 61 employees in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal wage and hour law.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that the Herman, Pa., residential secondary school failed to pay proper overtime to present and former afternoon counselors from Dec. 2003 through Feb. 17, 2006. The school also did not maintain adequate records of employee wages and hours.

“Summit Academy considered the afternoon counselors exempt as teachers, so they did not take into account that the counselors worked through their 30-minute lunch breaks when computing their wages,” said John Dumont, district director of the Pittsburgh Wage and Hour office. “Employers have a responsibility to ensure that workers are paid for all the hours they work.”

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, seeks to recover back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, as well as to enjoin the school from violating any provision of the FLSA in the future.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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