Court finds personal injury law firm, owner failed to pay overtime; Department demands payment of $26K in back wages, liquidated damages to 42 Alabama workers

AUBURN, AL – Following an investigation and federal court order, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $26,496 in back wages and liquidated damages from a personal injury law firm in Auburn, Alabama, that failed to pay overtime to 42 workers.

In December 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Eastern Division issued a default judgment, affirming the findings of the department’s Wage and Hour Division that Slocumb Law Firm LLC and owner Michael W. Slocumb failed to pay the workers overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. In response, Slocumb filed a motion to set aside the judgement. They later withdrew it, and the department sent a demand letter requiring payment for the wages that the workers were legally owed.

Investigators also determined Slocumb failed to keep accurate records of hours worked for workers paid on a salary basis. The firm’s action violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The court ordered the firm and its owner to pay $13,248 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages.

“The court’s action shows that no one is above the law. Employers must pay employees all the wages they’ve legally earned, including overtime when they work over 40 in a workweek,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “The Wage and Hour Division will use every avenue, including the courts, to protect workers’ rights and ensure they receive the wages they are lawfully owed. Employers should contact the agency and speak with a Wage and Hour professional to avoid these violations and ensure compliance with federal wage laws.”

In addition to three Alabama locations, Slocumb’s law offices are located in Baltimore; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Houston; New Orleans; Washington, D.C.; Charleston, West Virginia; and in Jackson and Gulfport, Mississippi.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.