Employee Represented by Nichols Kaster, PLLP Files Overtime Lawsuit Against DDP Holdings, LLC d/b/a Apollo Retail Specialists

    MINNEAPOLIS, MN, December 19, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, an employee filed a collective and class action Complaint against DDP Holdings, LLC d/b/a Apollo Retail Specialists, LLC ("Apollo") alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state law. Apollo, according to its website, is "one of the largest and most complete third party retail suppliers in North America, serving a variety of Fortune 500 companies across the U.S." It provides specialized support services for retail providers nationwide, including but not limited to new store construction, remodels, resets, displays, and assembly.

The named Plaintiff filed his federal and state law claims on behalf of himself and other "similarly situated" employees, which includes "Field Employees," performing various support services for national third party retailers (such as Lowe's, K-Mart, Walgreens, and Dollar General) who contract with Apollo. According to the Complaint, "Field Employees" includes field team leads, installers, merchandisers, assemblers, service route technicians, and other jobs performing similar duties. The Complaint alleges that Apollo willfully denied its Field Employees overtime pay by implementing a pay plan that did not provide for overtime premiums on certain job assignments. For example, the named Plaintiff alleges that when he was paid a "flat rate" to complete an assignment, he was not paid an overtime premium for hours worked over forty (40) per week. The Complaint also references other methods of payments within Defendant's pay plan that did not properly pay Plaintiffs the required overtime payments. The Complaint alleges that Plaintiff and those similarly situated performed non-exempt work, including but not limited to constructing displays, product assembly, new store construction, and resets of specific product lines within the third party retail stores.

Rachhana T. Srey, who represents the Plaintiff and potential class members stated, "our clients performed manual labor type work for national retailers and only got paid overtime when their assignments were hourly-paying assignments. An employer should not be allowed to pick and choose on a weekly basis when its employees should or should not be paid overtime and cannot contract around the law's requirements."

Plaintiffs are represented by Rachhana T. Srey from Nichols Kaster, PLLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bruce Meizlish and Deborah Grayson of Meizlish & Grayson, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, and David Blanchard of Nacht, Roumel, Salvatore, Blanchard & Walker, P.C. of Ann Arbor, Michigan . The case was filed in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio and is titled Feiertag, et al v. DDP Holdings, LLC d/b/a Apollo Retail Specialists, LLC, Court File No. 2:13-cv-02643-ALM-EPD.

Additional information may be found here www.nka.com or by calling Nichols Kaster, PLLP toll free at (877) 448-0492.

Nichols Kaster is a nationally recognized plaintiffs firm that focuses on representing employees and consumers whose rights have been violated. The firm was selected as a member of the National Law Journal's Litigation Boutiques Hot List, ranked as a Best Law Firm by U.S. News & World Report, and selected as a top plaintiffs' employment law firm by Law360.

The firm is led by its partners, who are regularly selected by their peers as Super Lawyers, and sit on the boards of numerous professional organizations, including the National Association of Employment Lawyers, the ABA Fair Labor Standards Legislation Committee and the Council for the Minnesota State Bar Association's Consumer Litigation Section.

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