Guillermo Gonzalez has filed a collective action lawsuit against American NTN Bearing Mfg. Corp., alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) due to unpaid overtime compensation. The complaint was filed on March 19, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Gonzalez, who worked as an hourly Facility Maintenance Mechanic from May 2022 through January 2025, claims that the company failed to properly calculate and pay overtime wages by excluding shift differential pay and other remuneration from the regular rate of pay.
According to the complaint, Gonzalez was employed at an NTN manufacturing facility in Elgin, Illinois, where his base hourly rate was $25.83. However, he alleges that American NTN Bearing Mfg. Corp. did not include shift differential pay in calculating his overtime wages, which is a violation of FLSA regulations that require all forms of remuneration to be included in the regular rate calculation. "Defendant failed to incorporate shift differential pay and other remuneration into its hourly employees’ regular hourly rate calculation for overtime rates," reads the complaint.
The lawsuit seeks to represent all similarly situated current and former hourly employees who worked for American NTN Bearing Mfg. Corp. across various states over the past three years. It alleges that these employees were systematically underpaid due to improper wage calculations that omitted required components like shift differentials from their overtime pay calculations.
Gonzalez's legal team argues that this oversight constitutes a willful violation of FLSA standards, entitling him and other affected employees to back pay for unpaid wages along with liquidated damages equal to those unpaid amounts. The complaint requests court authorization for collective action notice so other affected employees can join the lawsuit if they choose.
In addition to back pay and liquidated damages, Gonzalez is seeking pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, attorneys' fees, costs associated with bringing forth this action, and any further relief deemed appropriate by the court. The plaintiff demands a jury trial on all issues triable as a matter of right.
The case is being handled by attorneys Jesse L. Young from Kreis Enderle Hudgins & Borsos PC based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Kevin J. Stoops from Sommers Schwartz PC located in Southfield, Michigan.