FORMER DOT FOODS EMPLOYEE FILES PROPOSED CLASS-ACTION WAGE LAWSUIT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A former Dot Foods employee from Winchester has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing the Mount Sterling-based food distributor of failing to pay hourly workers for all time worked.

Brenden Clanton filed the lawsuit July 13 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield. He is represented by attorney Robi J. Baishnab of Nilges Draher LLC, an Ohio employment-law firm.

According to the complaint, Dot Foods allegedly violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act.

The lawsuit claims the company edited, rounded or otherwise modified employee time records in ways that resulted in unpaid regular wages and overtime. It also alleges employees were not paid for time spent putting on and removing required freezer suits before and after their shifts.

Clanton is asking the court to certify a federal collective action and Illinois class actions covering current and former hourly employees who may have been affected by the company’s pay practices.

The lawsuit seeks unpaid wages, overtime compensation, liquidated damages, statutory penalties, attorney’s fees and other relief allowed under state and federal law.

The allegations have not been proven in court. Dot Foods had not filed a response when the case was reported, and a judge had not ruled on whether the lawsuit may proceed as a class or collective action.