ELKINS — Two men filed a class-action lawsuit against Alliance Coal alleging that it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it failed to pay for "off-the-clock" work.
Alliance Resource Partners, Alliance Resources Operating Partners, Alliance Resource Management GP, Mettiki Coal WV and Tunnel Ridge were also named as defendants in the suit.
Walter Rettig and Broderick Hinkle filed the lawsuit on behalf of current and former coal miners that the defendants failed to pay overtime, including excluding promised, non-discretionary bonuses in the calculation of the employees’ “regular rate” for the purpose of determining the appropriate overtime rates of pay, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
"Defendants have acted willfully and with reckless disregard of clearly applicable FLSA and state law wage and hour provisions by failing to compensate Plaintiffs and Coal Members for all hours worked in excess of forty (40) during the workweeks," the complaint states.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and liquidated damages. They are represented by Thomas R. Goodwin and W. Jeffrey Vollmer of Goodwin & Goodwin.
The case is assigned to District Judge Thomas Kleeh.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 2:21-cv-0008