US Labor Department sues Arkansas agricultural equipment maintenance company for $64K in unpaid wages, liquidated damages for workers

Date of Action: Oct. 5, 2016

Type of Action: Filing of lawsuit

Name of Defendants: Bailey Picker Repair
Burley Glenn Bailey, owner and manager

Allegation: After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Bailey Picker Repair, and its owner Burley Glenn Bailey of Lake City, Arkansas, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay 10 current and former employees $32,133 in overtime pay, the department filed suit. Investigators in the division’s Little Rock District Office determined Bailey paid employees straight time for all hours worked, including overtime hours. The employer claimed that the business is exempt from paying overtime because its employees maintain and repair agricultural equipment and power tools. The division determined the exemption does not apply since the mechanics rarely work on site on a farm for a farmer; instead, they work on site at the owner’s shop for the overwhelming majority of the work day.

Quote: “Employers like Bailey Picker Repair are required to know and apply the law correctly, especially when they are claiming an exemption,” said Betty Campbell, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “Applying an exemption incorrectly costs workers the wages they’ve rightfully earned, and can result in accumulating a significant back wage liability, additional liquidated damages and court costs.”

Resolution: The department seeks $32,133 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for a total of $64,266, and an injunction against future FLSA violations.

Background: Bailey Picker Repair maintains and repairs agricultural equipment and power tools. With approximately six mechanics, the establishment is located in Lake City.

Additional Information: The FLSA provides an exemption from overtime for employees engaged in agriculture,  and for any salesman, parts man or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks or farm implements if employed by a non-manufacturing establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling such vehicles or implements to ultimate purchasers.    Neither exemption was found to apply to the employees in this investigation.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jonesboro, Arkansas Division 3

Docket Number:  3:16-cv-273-KGB