A class action lawsuit has accused Pace Suburban Bus of shorting its bus drivers pay.
On March 29, attorneys Paul F. Markoff and Karl G. Leinberger, of the firm of Markoff Leinberger LLC, of Chicago, filed the complaint in Cook County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff James W. Gertie and a class of potentially hundreds of other bus drivers employed by Pace.
Paul Markoff
| Markoff Leinberger LLC
The complaint accuses Pace of violating its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its drivers, and allegedly violating Illinois’ wage and overtime laws, among other alleged violations.
According to the complaint, Pace is required under its contract with its drivers to pay the drivers for 15 minutes of time at the beginning of their shifts for “pulling a bus out of the garage” and “time to inspect the bus.”
However, according to the complaint, Pace would sometimes pay drivers only for five minutes of time for pre-trip work and inspections.
According to the complaint, Gertie and other drivers would work more than 40 hours per week, but their pre-trip inspection times allegedly weren’t properly counted toward overtime.
According to the complaint, Pace’s alleged practices have allegedly cost Gertie and other drivers “thousands of dollars in pre-trip pay.”
The complaint further accuses Pace of allegedly failing to pay drivers time-and-a-half wages under the so-called “11 Hour Rule,” governing split shifts.
Under this rule, drivers whose daily shifts may be split by three or more hours resting, off the road, are allegedly to be paid at time-and-a-half for every hour worked beyond 11 hours in a day.
Gertie alleged he was not paid for time in excess of 11 hours.
When combined with the alleged failure to pay for pre-trip work, Gertie alleged he may not have been paid for more than an hour on the clock, including several minutes of overtime, in a day.
The complaint seeks to establish two classes of plaintiff drivers, including those allegedly who were not paid for pre-trip inspections, and another class for those allegedly not paid under the 11 Hour Rule.
The complaint seeks damages, including tripled payment of all alleged unpaid wages, prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees, among other damages, for Gertie and other drivers who may be included in either or both of the plaintiffs’ classes.