Klayman & Toskes, P.A. Hit with Ex-Paralegal’s Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

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Klayman & Toskes, P.A. and its namesakes are the defendants in a proposed class action filed by a former paralegal who claims the Florida securities law firm unlawfully misclassified her as exempt from overtime pay.

Citing potential Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) abuses, the lawsuit claims the plaintiff worked more than 40 hours during “most, if not all” weeks of her employment with the defendants. The plaintiff says she typically worked five days per week, 9:00 or 9:30 am to sometimes as late as 8:00 or 9:00 pm, without time-and-a-half overtime pay. The plaintiff adds she occasionally worked Saturdays and Sundays, sometimes five or six hours each day, as well as at night without commensurate overtime pay. The suit claims the plaintiff was “constantly being contacted by attorneys in the firm and others after hours, concerning work-related demands or otherwise.”

The lawsuit adds the plaintiff was not afforded a bona fide off-the-clock meal break.

“On the few occasions when [the plaintiff] attempted to have a bona fide meal period, it was interrupted repeatedly for her to do work, including, but not limited to, answering the phones or responding to requests from attorneys in the office or communications with clients or third parties,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit estimates the plaintiff is owed unpaid time-and-a-half wages for approximately 605 overtime hours spanning the last three years. These 605 hours, the suit says, do not include overtime hours for which the plaintiff did receive overtime pay. All told, the complaint claims the plaintiff is owed a little more than $56,712, plus interest.

According to the case, the plaintiff, who worked for the defendants from January 2015 through April 2018, was terminated without cause, notice or severance. To that claim, the suit says the plaintiff is owed wages for unused paid time off from 2017, as well as for rollover PTO from 2018. Further still, the plaintiff claims she was promised two-weeks’ severance, totaling at least $2,500, that she never received.