Case: 1:14-cv-09374 Document #: 1 Filed: 11/24/14 Page 1 of 8 PageID #:1

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
HORTENSIA CASTAEDA, NAIVI COBOS, and
ANA RODRGUEZ,
Plaintiffs,
v.
NILKANTH INVESTMENT INC.,
d/b/a CD ONE PRICE CLEANERS,
Defendant.

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No. 14-cv-9374

COMPLAINT
Introduction
1.

Plaintiffs are former employees of Nilkanth Investment Inc., which does business

as CD One Price Cleaners (hereinafter CD One Price). CD One Price failed to pay Plaintiffs
at the rate required under law when they worked overtime. CD One Price also required Plaintiffs
to work off the clock without pay, often for multiple hours a day. When the Plaintiffs complained
about these violations, they were harassed and fired or forced out of work. Plaintiffs bring this
suit to recover their overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C.
216(b), and under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL), 820 ILCS 105/4(a), and to recover
their other unpaid wages under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA), 820
ILCS 115/1 et seq. Finally, Plaintiffs bring this suit to recover damages for retaliation under the
FLSA and the common law theory of retaliatory discharge.
Parties
2.

Plaintiffs are former employees of Defendant and residents of Illinois.

3.

Defendant is an Illinois corporation with its principal place of business in Illinois.

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4.

Defendant is in the business of cleaning garments for customers in Chicago and,

upon information and belief, is a franchisee of Cleaners Depot, LLC.

Jurisdiction and Venue
5.

Plaintiffs invoke the jurisdiction of this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331

because it arises under federal law, namely the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. 216.
6.

Plaintiffs also invoke the supplemental jurisdiction of this court over their state

law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1367.

7.

Venue is proper in this court under 28 U.S.C. 1391 because all of the events or

omissions giving rise to this action occurred in this district and Defendant operates in this
district.
Facts
8.

All three Plaintiffs worked for CD One Price for years pressing and laundering

clothes for customers.

9.

Plaintiffs regularly worked in excess of forty hours a week for CD One Price.

10.

CD One Price never paid Plaintiffs for overtime, or hours worked in excess of

forty, at the rate of one and one-half times the regular rate as required under the FLSA and the
IMWL.
11.

In an apparent attempt to avoid creating a record of its violations of the FLSA and

IMWL, CD One Price falsified the hours records of Plaintiffs Castaeda and Rodrguez so that it
would appear that they never worked more than forty hours in a week.
12.

CD One Price also required Plaintiffs to complete more work than was possible

during their shifts, including, for example, pressing 200 garments per hour during shifts when
they were also responsible for making hangers for these garments.
13.

As a result, Plaintiffs were required to complete work off the clock.

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14.

Plaintiffs Cobos and Rodrguez regularly had to spend two hours a day making

hangers at home before or after their shift.

15.

Plaintiff Castaeda regularly had to come in to work early in order to complete

work prior to punching in for her shift.

16.

Plaintiffs were never compensated for this off the clock work.

17.

Plaintiffs were often required to work through their lunch breaks, but they were

never compensated for this time.

18.

CD One Price was aware of the fact that Plaintiffs had to work these off the

clock hours in order to complete the work that CD One Price assigned them.
19.

As a result of these off the clock hours, CD One Price often avoided paying

Plaintiffs not only regular wages, but overtime wages as well.

20.

Through these actions of requiring work without pay and concealing its

violations, CD One Price willfully violated the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1).

21.

In or around July 2014, Plaintiff Castaeda complained to her supervisor about

these wage law violations.

22.

In or around July and August 2014, all three Plaintiffs had conversations among

themselves about complaining about their work conditions to the management of CD One Price
and about reporting these conditions to an employee from CD One Prices franchisor, Cleaners
Depot, LLC, who did regular inspections of the CD One Price location where Plaintiffs worked.
23.

Plaintiffs had this conversation in the presence of another CD One Price employee

that, upon information and belief, is a supervisor for CD One Price.

24.

On August 8, 2014, CD One Price terminated Plaintiff Castaeda after nine years

of work in apparent retaliation for her complaints regarding FLSA violations.

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25.

Thereafter, CD One Price began discriminating against Plaintiffs Cobos and

Rodrguez by holding them to higher standards than their fellow employees in terms of
unreasonable expectations regarding both the quantity and quality of their work.
26.

Plaintiff Rodrguez was unable and unwilling to tolerate this harassment and

discrimination and resigned her employment.

27.

CD One Price never paid Plaintiff Rodrguez her earned vacation pay upon her

resignation.
28.

On October 8, 2014, Plaintiffs wrote and delivered a letter to the president of CD

One Price, Pankaj Patel, complaining that they were required to work off the clock, to work
without proper overtime compensation, and to work through their lunch breaks without pay,
among other things, and demanding that they be reimbursed for their lost wages.
29.

Shortly thereafter, in another apparently retaliatory act, CD One Price informed

Plaintiff Cobos that it would be changing her schedule.

30.

CD One Price was aware that Ms. Cobos could not work the new schedule

because of her childcare obligations.

31.

CD One Price gave Ms. Cobos three days to find a babysitter so that she could

work the new schedule.

32.

However, Ms. Cobos could not arrange for childcare on such short notice, and has

been unable to report to work since her schedule was changed.

33.

As a result of being discharged, each of the Plaintiffs has suffered damages

including, but not limited to, the loss of pay.

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COUNT I
Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 207
Failure to pay overtime
34.

By the acts and omissions set forth above, Defendant violated the rights of

Plaintiffs under 207(a)(1) of the FLSA, which entitles an employee who works in excess of
forty hours in any given workweek to compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half
times the regular rate at which he is employed.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray this court to:
A. Enter judgment in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendant;
B. Award Plaintiffs their unpaid overtime compensation and an additional equal
amount as liquidated damages;
C. Award Plaintiffs reasonable attorneys fees and costs;
D. Award Plaintiffs pre- and post-judgment interest; and
E. Grant any other appropriate legal or equitable relief.
COUNT II
Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 215
Unlawful Retaliation
35.

By the acts and omissions set forth above, Defendant violated the rights of

Plaintiffs under 215(a)(3) of the FLSA, which prohibits employers from discharging or
otherwise discriminating against any employee who has complained about violations of the law.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray this court to:
A. Enter judgment in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendant;
B. Award Plaintiffs their unpaid back pay and liquidated damages;
C. Award Plaintiffs reasonable attorneys fees and costs;
D. Award Plaintiffs pre- and post-judgment interest;
E. Order Defendant to reinstate Plaintiffs employment; and
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F. Grant any other appropriate legal or equitable relief.

COUNT III
Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/4a
Failure to pay overtime
22.

By the acts and omissions set forth above, Defendant violated the rights of

Plaintiffs under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/4a, which entitles an employee
who works in excess of forty hours in any given workweek to compensation at a rate not less
than 1 times the regular rate at which he is employed.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray this court to:
A. Enter judgment in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendant;
B. Award Plaintiffs their unpaid overtime compensation and damages of 2% of such
unpaid compensation for each month following the date of underpayment;
C. Award Plaintiffs reasonable attorneys fees and costs;
D. Award Plaintiffs pre- and post-judgment interest; and
E. Grant any other appropriate legal or equitable relief.
COUNT IV
Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/14 et seq.
Failure to timely pay wages
36.

By the acts and omissions set forth above, Defendant violated the rights of

Plaintiffs under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/1 et seq., which
requires employers to pay employees within thirteen days for all wages earned during the pay
period and to pay final compensation, including vacation pay, to employees at the time of
separation.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray this court to:
A. Enter judgment in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendant;

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B. Award Plaintiffs their unpaid overtime compensation and damages of 2% of such

unpaid compensation for each month following the date of underpayment;
C. Grant Plaintiffs pre- and post-judgment interest on all amounts unlawfully
withheld from their compensation in violation of 820 ILCS 115/1 et seq.
D. Grant legal fees and costs; and
E. Grant all other just and equitable relief.
COUNT V
Retaliatory Discharge
37.

As set forth above, CD One Price committed violations of the IMWL, IWPCA.

38.

By the acts set forth above, CD One Price also violated the One Day Rest in

Seven Act (ODRISA), 820 ILCS 140/3, which required CD One Price to give Plaintiffs a meal
break whenever they were required to work 7 continuous hours or longer.
39.

By the acts set forth above, CD One Price discharged Plaintiff Castaeda for

complaining of these violations.

40.

CD One Price also continued these illegal practices with regard to other

employees, including the other plaintiffs, even after Castaedas discharge.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Castaeda respectfully prays this Court to:
A. Enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff Castaeda and against Defendant;
B. Award Plaintiff Castaeda back pay and other compensatory damages;
C. Award Plaintiff Castaeda punitive damages; and
D. Grant all other just and equitable relief.
Jury Demand
Plaintiffs hereby demand a jury trial pursuant to Rule 38(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure on all issues so triable.
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Dated: November 24, 2014

By:

Thomas H. Geoghegan
Michael P. Persoon
Sean Morales-Doyle
Despres, Schwartz & Geoghegan, Ltd.
77 West Washington Street, Suite 711
Chicago, Illinois 60602
(312) 372- 2511

/s/ Sean Morales-Doyle

One of Plaintiffs Attorneys