Two fueling supervisors claim they regularly worked over 40 hours but received pay for just 40
Two airport fueling supervisors say their employer wrongly classified them as exempt, skipping overtime pay even as they clocked 50-plus hour weeks.
Rosa Flores and David Howard filed suit against Allied Aviation Services on November 10, alleging the aviation company denied them proper overtime wages by misclassifying their positions as exempt from federal and state labor law protections.
The case, filed in federal court in New York, centers on a familiar challenge for HR departments: drawing the line between exempt and non-exempt supervisory roles.
Flores worked the late shift at LaGuardia Airport from 2015 through April 2024, regularly logging about 45 hours weekly. Howard, employed for about 15 years who worked as a supervisor until about May 2023, says he routinely worked over 50 hours each week. Both were scheduled for standard five-day, 40-hour workweeks but say the actual demands of the job made overtime inevitable.
The supervisors say they arrived early to prep for their shifts and stayed late to handle flight changes, complete reports, and ensure smooth handoffs to the next shift. Flores typically started about 15 minutes before her 4:30 p.m. shift and worked at least 30 minutes past the scheduled midnight end time almost daily. Howard often began 15 to 30 minutes early and stayed at least 30 minutes late, sometimes working past midnight on evening shifts. Meal breaks were frequently interrupted or skipped entirely as operational needs took priority.
Despite the extra hours, Allied paid them for 40 hours of work each week when they worked 40 or more hours, according to the filing. The company did offer bonuses for extended shifts, but only in specific increments of two, four, or eight hours beyond the regular schedule. Work one extra hour? No bonus. The payments came as flat-rate lump sums below the time-and-a-half standard required by law.
The supervisors argue they should never have been classified as exempt in the first place. While they carried the title of supervisor, they lacked the authority typically required for exempt status. They did not hire or fire workers, nor did they discipline staff. Instead, they reported issues up the chain and followed established protocols, often governed by union contracts. Supervisors reported to duty managers, who reported to operations managers, who reported to the general manager.
Allied operates fueling services at airports including Houston, Sacramento, Washington, Charleston, San Antonio, and New York. The lawsuit seeks to represent over 400 similarly situated supervisors who worked at these locations since November 2022, with a separate New York class reaching back to 2019.
The filing also challenges Allied's wage statements, which allegedly listed only 40 hours worked per week regardless of actual time on the job. Bonuses appeared as unexplained lump sums, making it difficult for workers to verify their pay or spot shortfalls.
The supervisors say Allied never conducted a time study or job analysis and did not interview them about their duties before classifying their positions as exempt. The filing notes that in a 2016 letter Allied sent to New Jersey labor officials about supervisors at Newark airport, the company made no mention of supervisors having hiring or firing authority.
The case asks for unpaid wages, penalties for inadequate pay statements, and damages. No court decision has been reached, and the allegations remain unproven.
