Sheila Washington has taken legal action against a major senior living corporation, alleging that the company has systematically denied her and others overtime pay. The complaint was filed on January 21, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Senior Lifestyle Corporation. Washington claims that she and other employees were misclassified as independent contractors to avoid paying them the overtime wages they are entitled to under federal and state law.
According to the complaint, Sheila Washington worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Senior Lifestyle's Sheridan at River Forest facility in Illinois from June 2022 through September 2022. During this time, she and other "Straight Time Workers" regularly worked more than 40 hours per week but were not compensated with the required overtime pay of one and a half times their regular hourly rate. Instead, they received only their standard hourly wage for all hours worked beyond the typical workweek threshold. This practice is alleged to violate both the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL).
Washington's lawsuit seeks to represent a class of similarly situated employees who have been subjected to this "straight time for overtime" pay scheme over the past three years. She argues that Senior Lifestyle's actions were willful and deliberate attempts to circumvent labor laws by misclassifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees, thus avoiding additional payroll expenses associated with overtime compensation.
The plaintiff is seeking various forms of relief from the court, including an order designating this case as a collective action under FLSA provisions, certification of a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, unpaid back wages plus liquidated damages equal to those wages, treble damages under IMWL, monthly statutory damages at five percent per month on any underpayment amounts, attorney’s fees, costs, expenses, and pre- and post-judgment interest.
Representing Sheila Washington in this legal battle are attorneys Douglas M. Werman and Maureen A. Salas from Werman Salas P.C., along with Michael A. Josephson and Andrew W. Dunlap from Josephson Dunlap LLP, and Richard J. Burch from Bruckner Burch PLLC. The case is being overseen by Judge in Case ID: 1:25-cv-00683.