NORTHAMPTON — A former banquet chef at an Amherst hotel, claiming she was not paid for overtime work during her two years on the job, is bringing a wage theft lawsuit against the Connecticut company that manages the Inn on Boltwood.
Alexandra Paquin, of South Hadley, filed the potential class-action lawsuit, under both the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the state’s laws governing wages and hours, in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday. Her attorney estimates that Paquin suffered $50,000 to $100,000 in lost wages.
The defendant is the Waterford Hotel Group LLC of Waterford, a company that operates hotels in Massachusetts and other states and runs the Inn on Boltwood, formerly the Lord Jeffery Inn.
Paquin said in a statement supplied by her attorney, Michael Aleo, that she didn’t want to bring a lawsuit against Waterford, and having lived paycheck to paycheck, didn’t want to jeopardize her income or the job she started Nov. 28, 2019, but wanted to be paid and treated fairly.
Before she was fired Dec. 3, 2021, a week after leaving a shift early, Paquin said she was working 50 to 70 or more hours per week, being paid $24.53 to $26.90 per hour for the 40 hours. Those hours were burning her out, she said, even though when Paquin started in the hospitality industry her impression was that was normal.
“After some time, I realized that taking advantage of people working for you in this way is not only illegal, but inhumane as well,” Paquin stated.
The lawsuit states that she was not employed in an executive or managerial capacity and so was entitled to overtime payment for hours worked weekly in excess of 40.
“I had raised issues about the discrepancy between my pay and how many hours I was forced to work on a repeated basis,” the statement continued. “Nothing changed. I don’t believe it is right to put employees in that type of situation.
While she worries about the ramifications she might face with future employers who learn about the lawsuit, Paquin said her action is necessary. “But I just can’t do nothing, not any longer,” she stated.
The lawsuit, which asks for a jury trial, seeks to recoup lost wages for Paquin and similar non-managerial employees who were not paid overtime, with both to be tripled under state law if a jury finds in her favor, along with paying attorney fees and costs.
“She seeks relief on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated current or former Waterford Hotel Group employees who” worked for the company over the past three years, were not exempt from overtime payment obligations and didn’t receive that pay when exceeding 40 hours per week, the lawsuit states.
Paquin is represented by Michael Aleo, an attorney with Lesser, Newman, Aleo & Nasser, LLP of Northampton.
“Wage theft in Massachusetts and throughout the country is far too commonplace,” Aleo said. “But the risk that employers face when shorting their employees the wages owed to them is steep.”
Aleo said Paquin’s lost wages would become “treble” damages under state law.
“The law in Massachusetts is designed this way to deter employers from stealing wages in the first place, as well as to encourage employees to stand up for their rights by bringing these types of lawsuits,” Aleo said.
Lisa Beers, vice president for marketing and communications for Waterford, said her company has not yet been served papers associated with the lawsuit, and also doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Aleo explained that before the lawsuit could proceed, a claim was filed with the state attorney general’s office allowing it to move forward.
If a trial takes place, that likely won’t happen until 2024 at the earliest, he said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
