Two separate class-action lawsuits were filed last week in Miami against 24 Hour Fitness, claiming the company refused to pay overtime to some of its employees.
The complaints were filed last Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. The first complaint was filed on behalf of Jeanlin Lee, Jessie Quijano and Johnny Denis, former 24 Hour sales counselors who sold club memberships for the San Ramon, CA-based company. They claim they routinely worked more than 40 hours per week and reported their overtime hours accordingly yet were not paid for overtime, which they claim is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Lee told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that 24 Hour supervisors told him that if he were paid for overtime, he would be fired. Lee claims the reason he was fired in February was because he complained about not getting paid for the overtime that he was required to work in order to meet his sales quota, according to the newspaper.
The second complaint was filed on behalf of former personal trainer Elio Constanza, who claims he was entitled to be paid overtime.
Pelayo Duran and Roderick Hannah are the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, who also claim 24 Hour supervisors removed overtime hours from timesheets and payroll records.
“What is most troubling about the 24 Hour Fitness clubs,” Hannah said in a statement, “is not only the fact that they routinely did not pay overtime, but that the company encouraged its club managers to manipulate and falsify employee time records with the specific intent of denying the employees monies that they had worked hard for and had earned.”
The plaintiffs in both cases are seeking a jury trial to recover back overtime pay at one-and-a-half times the regular hourly rate as well as damages and attorneys’ fees.
In a statement, 24 Hour said that it does not comment on pending litigation.
“While 24 Hour Fitness is aware that two complaints have been filed in Florida, we have not been served with either of the legal actions,” the company said.