How to file a claim with DOL?

borntexan

Hello All,

I feel really stupid asking this question. I have sat on the HR side a two Wage and Labor Audits, and countless ue hearings. Yet, I personally have never been on the other side.
However, my husband was terminated this weekend, and I want to have his company investigated, and his back wages paid to him, and I don't know where to start. He was wrongly classified as an exempt employee, forced to clock in/out, pay was deducted if he did not meet over 40 hours per week, he was forced to submit to a lie detector test, he has a write up that states he was paid by the hour. He worked on average 55 hours per week for the last year, and I want to see the OT pay for all that time. How do I go about filing a claim? Thanks for all your help.

Leslie

Pork

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-16-03 AT 12:01PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Leslie: YOU DON'T! He can take any documentation he may have been provided by his x-employer and walk into the Regional EEOC office and they'll sit down with him and develop his claim. He should have direct proof of the allegations about hours worked, and the relationship of his hours recorded and salary earned, and job description, etc. Documentation can be as little as a last years calendar which shows the daily hours worked. He may have been properly classified EXEMPT, but then based purely on your posting maybe he was, inappropriately classified.

You back out of the situation and let your husband go play the fiddle, he'll be happier about the results if not pushed by you. If he is not a "big boy" to handle this claim then I can see why the company may have taken advantage of him.

PORK

AFTER YOUR LAST POST, I FEEL BETTER ABOUT MY EEOC RECOMMENDATION! WHILE I DISLIKE THE EEOC PURPOSE, I HAVE TO ADMIT THEY HAVE A REAL PLACE IN THE WORLD OF WORK! BAD GUYS AND GIRLS NEED TO BE CALLED TO TASK AND RELIEVED OF THEIR ABILITY TO HURT! SADDAM HUSSANE IS ALIVE AND WELL EVEN IN OUR WORLD.

PORK

Don D

I hate to disagree with my cellmate Pork; but, to file a charge like the one your husband needs to file will require a telephone call to the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, not the EEOC. He is not charging discrimination based on sex, race, age, disability, ethnicity or religion, as I understand your question. Therefore, his claim must be reported to the wage/hour division. It can be telephonic and will result in a request by them for a face to face interview with his documentation being essential to the investigation. Be certain to ask for and write down the name of the investigator he speaks with, the precise time and date and the remarks both parties make. Tell them that you request they not launch off into an investigation until they speak with your husband and receive his documentation.

System

Don is correct in his analysis.

Pork

I agree with "Dandy Don";I read into your post that he might also be an age, sex, or race candidate. None of which you posted, given none of these, the "wage and hour folks" are the starting place.

The EEOC would, infact, listen and counsel him and support his claims, if they have some reasonable indication of discrimination or "wrongful termination". Wage & Hour issues may just be a small part of his case! If he is going to have them investigated you might as well go "all the way"!

PORK

Margaret Morford

He also may have a claim for the lie dectector test under the Federal Polygraph Statute.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

borntexan

Thanks to everyone who tried to help. I should probably clarify, that my husband is going to be filing the claim, HE asked me for my help since this is my area of expertise. He has placed a call to the DOL, and we have a meeting with our regional representative tomorrow. I also followed through with the advice to contact the EEOC, and I am not sure if he has substanial proof that this was a sexual/racial environment. Even though there were several witnesses who heard his Manager's remarks about "white boys never learning how to do a day's work", and "gringo's who can't roll a taco". I personally feel he has a great case, stronger than anything I have ever had to defend against.
Even if he doesn't recover his back wages, at least his company will probably have to go through the hassle of a wage and hour audit, and maybe an EEOC audit as well. Thank you to all!

Leslie