Lawsuit Alleges Mill-Run Tours Underpaid Travel Agents

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Mill-Run Tours, Inc. has been hit with a proposed class and collective action that claims the company has not paid travel agents proper minimum and overtime wages.

According to the lawsuit, the New York agency has paid its travel professionals and agents a flat, bi-weekly salary that, when divided by the number of hours the employees worked, fell below the statutory hourly minimum wage and failed to include time-and-a-half pay for overtime hours.

Mill-Run Tours is described in the suit as “a premier airline consolidator for traditional and home-based agencies of all sizes providing an array of travel services including, but not limited to, corporate and individual travel, religious and group travel options and customized itineraries, corporate concierge and leisure premium services, amongst other services.” The plaintiff says she worked as a travel professional/agent at the defendant’s New York City office between June 2003 and July 2020 and was responsible for booking clients’ itineraries, engaging new clients, providing airline promotion offers and services to clients, attending meetings with airline representatives, coordinating travel itineraries and canceling or rescheduling itineraries as necessary. During the time period relevant to the lawsuit, the defendant had at least 100 employees in its New York City office, the case says.

Per the suit, the plaintiff typically worked 45 hours per week and was paid a bi-weekly flat salary of $850.00. The case argues that if the plaintiff’s salary were to be divided by the number of hours she worked each week, her hourly rate would fall well below the applicable minimum wage. Moreover, the plaintiff was never paid time-and-a-half overtime wages when she worked more than 40 hours per week, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit goes on to allege that although the plaintiff was told she could take a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break and a 15-minute break, she was unable to take her full breaks, particularly when she was required to continue serving clients. According to the suit, the plaintiff was terminated in July 2020 as a result of a “necessary reduction” in the defendants’ workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the suit, the plaintiff’s experience reflects the defendant’s allegedly unlawful corporate policies that apply to all non-management employees.

“Plaintiff and the Collective and Class Members were all paid pursuant to the same corporate policies of Defendants, including failing to pay minimum wages and overtime premiums,” the complaint alleges.

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