told to clock out and keep working

[jeffeulogy]

What is the name of your state? PA

i'm working at a fast food joint as a second job to save money for school next year. sunday night my boss told me to "go ahead and clock out and finish your closing chores" so i worked 20 minutes unpaid.

this job is disposable and i hate it. i'll be honest, i want to stick it to my employer in a public fashion or get some money out of them. they're out to screw me, it's the least i can do. can i sue them for the 2 bucks they cheated me out of? i'd greatly prefer that over filing a quiet claim with the labor department.

 

[cbg]

If you want to spend several hundred dollars over two bucks, go right ahead. Assuming you can find an attorney stupid enough to take the case.

 

[jeffeulogy]

i'd just do it pro se. i have a principal advantage over even the best and brightest corporate attorneys; i have nothing better to do and nothing to lose.

 

[cbg]

I think it's an utterly bonehead thing to do but if you want to waste your time suing them for $2 when you could accomplish the same purpose by complaining to the DOL, that's your call. You have the right to be a bonehead if you want to be. Depending on your state, it could still cost you more than you'd get back even doing it pro se. If you think you're going to get damages out of this, think again.

 

[jeffeulogy]

i don't really care about the money i'd just like to see sybra, inc. humiliated in the local newspaper. other employees have said that this is a routine thing, i don't think it should be.

 

[ENASNI]

Uhoh

Josh... is that you?



If it isn't sorry OP... just some lame humor... but if Eulogy is your last name...
OY!

 

[cbg]

And what makes you think that your $2 claim is going to be important enough to make the newspaper, or that they'll be "humiliated" if it does?

Get over yourself.

 

[Katy W.]

Sorry, the DOL has jurisdiction over this type of complaint and no court will let it anywhere near a courtroom if you haven't gone to the DOL first. Filing a complaint with the DOL is plenty of trouble for them anyway.

 

[cbg]

Actually, Katy, that's not the case - at least, not in all states. Unlike a discrimination or sexual harassment claim, where it is mandatory that you go through the EEOC or the state discrimination board first, an employee is not necessarily required to go through the DOL on a wage claim. It is certainly the preferred method, but if this poster wants to make an idiot of himself by going straight to a lawsuit, no law prohibits it - at least, not in his state.

 

[Katy W.]

Shoot, I'm sorry, you are right I wasn't looking at the state.

 

[CheeseBlotto]

You'd be better off taking the $2 and buying a life.