On November 7, 2022, our firm filed a Collective and Class Action lawsuit against Landmark Recovery related to unpaid overtime and meal break deductions.
The Collective Action lawsuit filed by our Overtime Attorneys alleges that Landmark Recovery automatically deducts a 30-minute meal break from its hourly employees’ hours each day even when those employees are too busy or too understaffed to receive a full, uninterrupted meal break. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act states that if employers decide to deduct an unpaid meal break from their hourly employees’ hours worked, those employees must actually receive a full, uninterrupted meal break. These improper deductions for meal breaks can add up over the course of months and years and result in significant unpaid overtime.
The lawsuit against Landmark Recovery was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division (Toledo) and is called Hale v. Landmark Recovery of Ohio, LLC, et al Case No. 3:22-cv-2011. Although the case was initially filed for Landmark Recovery employees in all states, it has been limited to only those Landmark Recovery employees who worked in Ohio. If you were or are an hourly employee of Landmark Recovery in Ohio and you would like more information about this unpaid overtime lawsuit, please give our office a call at 1-888-619-2729 or send us an email at mcoffman@mcoffmanlegal.com. The Hale lawsuit covers all Landmark Recovery employees who worked in Ohio.
In addition to the Hale lawsuit, our firm has filed a second separate lawsuit for all Landmark Recovery employees who work in all other states in the Middle District of Tennessee. The case is Isaacs v. Landmark Recovery of Louisville, LLC, Case No. 3:23-cv-00210. In addition to Isaacs, over 35 other Landmark Recovery employees have joined the case as of April 4, 2023. The additional Landmark Recovery employees are from Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, and Oklahoma. The lawsuit covers employees from all Landmark Recovery locations and claims that Landmark Recovery required meal break deductions even if direct care employees did not receive bona fide meal breaks. A bona fide meal break is defined as:
- Bona fide meal periods are not worktime. Bona fide meal periods do not include coffee breaks or time for snacks. These are rest periods. The employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating regular meals. … The employee is not relieved if he is required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.
Thus, if employees’ meal breaks are missed, shortened, or otherwise interrupted by job duties, then employers must pay employees for their meal breaks. Similarly, employers cannot deduct a full meal break from employees’ hours worked if such break is essentially “split up” into multiple smaller breaks throughout the workday.
If you would like to discuss your rights as they relate to meal breaks, you may contact our experienced overtime lawyers. If you are a Landmark Recovery direct care employee and have questions about the currently pending lawsuits, please feel free to contact our firm for a free and confidential consultation.
