Court Enters $333,000-Plus Verdict against Borders in Wage and Hour had worked more than 4,000 hours of overtime at a Chicago-area Borders bookstore, for which the company refused to pay (June 13, 2007) — A federal judge in Chicago, today upheld a $175,163 verdict against Borders Inc., confirming a jury's ruling that the book and entertainment retail giant violated the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to compensate Clarice Prange for more than 4,000 hours of overtime she had worked as a corporate sales representative at a Chicago-area Borders this year, a jury in the States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, found that Borders did not pay Ms. Prange for 4,170 hours of approved overtime that she had worked between July of 2001 and May of 2004. It also found that Borders further violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by terminating Ms. Prange in retaliation for the lawsuit that she had filed against the company, and that Borders had acted with "reckless indifference" with regard to her federally protected rights. It awarded Ms. Prange $42,926.00 for punitive damages, in addition to $51,484.53 in lost wages and benefits for the wrongful the jury's verdict, Borders filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law, asking Judge Robert W. Gettleman to overturn the jury. Judge Gettleman denied that motion, and ordered Borders to pay Ms. Prange the full amount of the jury's award, plus $144,209.20 in liquidated damages and $13,860.25 in 2007 lost wages and benefits to date. He also ordered Borders to reinstate her at the Oak Park, Ill. store from which she was wrongfully are very pleased with the Court's ruling that Borders should be held fully responsible for its illegal and malicious treatment of Ms. Prange," said Jac A. Cotiguala, Ms. Prange's Chicago-based attorney. "Borders continually claims a commitment to its employees as one of its core values, but Ms. Prange was a loyal employee to the company for seven years, and its treatment of her was ultimately nothing short of Cotiguala continued: "Borders knew from the very beginning that it had acted inappropriately, but rather than settle the matter amicably, it attempted to use its standing as a large and highly profitable corporation to bully Ms. Prange. Fortunately, Ms. Prange chose to put up a fight and the Court was able to force Borders to take responsibility for its copy of the original#tracking |
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