Ex-Employee Sues SeaWorld for Unpaid Overtime

A retired SeaWorld employee has filed an FLSA lawsuit in federal court accusing the theme park of not paying employees overtime for working on their lunch breaks and before their shifts to cut labor expenses. The plaintiff filed the lawsuit seeking class-action status in the U.S. District Court’s Orlando division. The plaintiff is suing for unpaid overtime, attorney fees, and other relief.

The plaintiff worked in the plant engineering department from 1989 until he retired in March, 2024. According to his lawsuit, the plaintiff said he clocked off during his lunch but his break was often interrupted by co-workers, supervisors, or unfinished paperwork. According to the plaintiff, employees did not get “a bona fide meal break” or paid for their work.

According to a July 2020 email to its employees, the Vice President of Park Operations told workers to clock out for lunch. However, if employees cannot take an uninterrupted lunch due to being called on their radios, they have to clock back in, and the company would give them a break sometime later.

The lawsuit contends that the plaintiff and the putative class members (others similarly situated as the plaintiff) are entitled to the applicable overtime wage rate for each overtime hour they suffered and permitted to work by the defendant. The lawsuit further alleges that said employees often dealt with security issues, fire alarms, and reported problems to department supervisors, all before or after their shifts for which they were never paid. The plaintiff contends this adds up to about 3 hours of extra work per week.

The lawsuit accuses SeaWorld of knowing that employees weren’t getting paid properly for their overtime work and said that the company was violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

According to the lawsuit, SeaWorld’s “failure to pay Plaintiff and the FLSA Collective for all hours worked was due to a corporate policy to limit labor expenditures, preserve corporate profits, and for the convenience of its operations.”

Grounds for unpaid overtime lawsuits 

When it comes to employment law, several circumstances can lead to an overtime lawsuit. Employees and employers should be aware of the following grounds for an FLSA lawsuit.

• Misclassification of employees – Misclassification occurs when an employer illegally designates an employee as an independent contractor or executive who is exempt from overtime wages.

• Failure to pay ‘off-the-clock’ work – Employers are required to compensate employees for all the hours they work. This includes work performed before or after scheduled shifts or during breaks. This is the grounds for the aforementioned lawsuit.

• Denial of overtime pay for work over 40 hours – The FLSA requires non-exempt employees to be paid time-and-a-half (or 1.5 times their regular pay) for any work performed over 40 hours a week.

• Poor record keeping – Employers are required to maintain accurate records of the hours their employees work. Problems with record keeping can lead to overtime wage disputes.

Talk to a Tampa, FL FLSA Lawyer Today 

Florin Gray represents the interests of employees who have been denied their rightful overtime pay. Call our Tampa employment lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin investigating your case right away.