Nicola Benbrook sued Pathway Holdings, LLC (d/b/a Holland Pathways) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Kansas Wage Payment Act (KWPA) for unpaid wages and overtime compensation. Defendant moved to dismiss the second amended complaint under Rule 12(b)(6).
Factual Overview
Benbrook worked as an hourly, non-exempt employee for Holland Pathways, an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment facility, from 2018 to October 2023. She regularly worked over 40 hours per week, with some weeks reaching over 70 hours. The defendant had a policy of automatically deducting 30 minutes from employees’ time for lunch breaks. However, Benbrook alleged that employees were unable to take uninterrupted lunch breaks due to limited coverage and workload, yet the company still deducted the time. She claimed she only had five uninterrupted lunch breaks during her entire employment. After filing her initial complaint, Benbrook amended it twice in response to the defendant’s motions to dismiss.
Legal Analysis
FLSA Claim: The court addressed whether Benbrook improperly sought to recover “gap time” wages under the FLSA. The court found that Benbrook’s second amended complaint adequately clarified she was not seeking gap time wages under the FLSA, and her request for “other relief” referred to legitimate FLSA remedies like liquidated damages and attorneys’ fees.
KWPA Claim: The court analyzed whether Benbrook could pursue overtime claims under both the FLSA and KWPA. Following precedent, the court determined that Benbrook could not use the KWPA to recover overtime wages when the FLSA applied, even if the overtime was promised under company policy.
Compliance with Court Order: The court rejected the defendant’s argument that Benbrook failed to comply with its previous order. The court found that Benbrook properly clarified her FLSA claim and appropriately added allegations to support her gap time claim under the KWPA.
The court granted the motion to dismiss in part by dismissing Benbrook’s KWPA overtime claim but denied the motion as to her FLSA claim and KWPA gap time claim.
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