Recently, the experienced wage and hour attorneys here at Coffman Legal along with another law firm Nilges Draher filed a new collective action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company for allegedly failing to properly compensate its current and former Process Coaches for all overtime wages owed.
What do the process coaches allege in the unpaid overtime lawsuit against Ford Motor Company?
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Ford has misclassified its current and former Process Coaches as being exempt from being paid overtime and has therefore failed to properly compensate these Process Coaches for all overtime wages in violation of federal law. The Complaint further alleges that Process Coaches had to perform work before and after their shifts including attending mandatory meetings which went uncompensated or were otherwise paid at less than 1.5 times employees’ regular rate of pay.
To be properly classified as exempt (ineligible) from receiving overtime compensation under the “executive exemption,” an employee’s primary duty must be the management of an enterprise and they must have the authority to hire and fire employees or have their recommendations for hiring and firing given particular weight, among other things. Employees are generally non-exempt and entitled to overtime compensation unless they meet one of the exemptions that allows an employer not to pay overtime. It is an employer’s burden to demonstrate that employees are exempt from overtime compensation. More discussion of the executive exemption can be found here.
The lawsuit alleges that Process Coaches do not meet this standard for exemption . This misclassification means that Process Coaches were entitled to overtime compensation for hours worked over forty in a workweek at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all overtime hours worked.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division at Cleveland, and is called Hood v. Ford Motor Company, Case No. 1:24-cv-244. The lawsuit seeks to recover the unpaid overtime wages for all of Ford’s affected Process Coaches during the past three years, additional liquidated damages, attorney’s fees, and costs.
What is the process coach overtime lawsuit seeking?
The lawsuit seeks unpaid overtime wages, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees, costs, and other damages for Process Coaches working at all of Ford Motor Company’s facilities during the last three years. Unpaid overtime includes 1.5 times an employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek.
Who do i contact for more information about the Ford overtime lawsuit for process coaches?
If you were a Process Coach at the Ford Motor Company and you worked more than 40 hours in a workweek in the last three years, you may be entitled to join the lawsuit. If you would like more information about the unpaid overtime lawsuit filed against the Ford Motor Company for Process Coaches, please contact our experienced unpaid overtime and misclassification attorneys by phone at 614-949-1181, by emailing mcoffman@mcoffmanlegal.com, or by completing our contact form on our website here. We would be happy to speak with you in a free and fully confidential consultation.
