Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
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US Department of Labor sues Sullivan University in Louisville, Ky., to recover overtime wages owed to employees
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Sullivan University System Inc. and its president and chief executive officer, Alva R. Sullivan, for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Louisville Division, alleges that the university failed to pay overtime to admissions officers and high school representatives of the university. In addition, the corporation failed to make, keep and preserve adequate and accurate records of their wages and hours.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division is seeking two years of back wages plus an additional, equal amount as liquidated damages for 125 employees who were employed in the two job categories.
“The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that all workers receive all wages to which they are legally entitled,” said Oliver Peebles III, acting regional administrator of the Wage and Hour Division in Atlanta. “It’s unfortunate that we had to go to such lengths to compel this employer to live up to his legal obligations. However, we want to make other employers in Louisville aware that we would not hesitate to do it again.”
Sullivan University System, which does business as Sullivan University, Spencerian College and Louisville Technical Institute, is a corporation based in Louisville and claims to be the largest private university in Kentucky.
The FLSA requires employees to be paid the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 in a week unless an employee is exempt from overtime pay. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.
For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Division’s Louisville District Office at 502-582-5226 or its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
Solis v. Sullivan University System Inc.
Civil Action File Number 3:10-cv-00133-CRS
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