Sober Living America Hit with Wage-and-Hour Lawsuit in Georgia

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Sober Living America, Inc. has failed to pay certain employees proper minimum and overtime wages, a proposed collective action alleges.

Four plaintiffs, who worked for the defendant in the capacities of van driver and city director, claim in the 18-page complaint that Sober Living America failed to record their work time because the company lacked a manual or electronic timekeeping system. The lawsuit alleges Sober Living America’s failure to pay proper wages was meant to “save actual payroll, payroll costs and payroll taxes” from which the company has “enjoyed ill-gained profits” at the expense of workers. 

Atlanta-headquartered Sober Living America owns and operates group home facilities in more than a dozen states with the objective of providing an alcohol and drug support and accountability mechanism for recovering addicts in addition to offering lodging and employment opportunities, the lawsuit says. According to the case, the plaintiffs and similarly situated employees’ primary job duties were non-managerial in nature. 

Prior to October 2020, the defendant paid the plaintiffs and similarly situated employees working in guest service and work development and as van drivers and city directors on an “arbitrary basis with de minimis cash compensation” ranging from $100 to $150 per week, the lawsuit says. Per the case, the cash wages were in addition to a rent stipend or credit Sober Living America “arbitrarily calculated” at roughly $200 per week for “a room in a group home with at least one roommate.” 

Since at least September 2020, the defendant failed to record the plaintiffs’ and similarly situated workers’ hours because it lacked a manual or electronic timekeeping system at each of its locations, the complaint says. As such, Sober Living America failed to keep complete and accurate timesheets and payroll records for those working in guest service and work development and as van drivers and city directors, according to the case. 

The lawsuit alleges members of the proposed collective have been denied proper time-and-a-half overtime compensation for every hour worked in excess of 40 each week. 

The case looks to represent all current and former Sober Living America workers classified as a van driver, guest service or work development employee or city director at the company’s Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Virginia and Texas operations who work or have worked at the defendant’s facilities at any time during the applicable statute of limitations period and up to and including the date of final judgment in the suit. 

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