By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
A FORMER dishwasher has sued the operator of Shirley’s Coffee Shop, alleging it failed to pay her overtime for work performed after closing and asking the federal court to waive prepayment of filing fees even though she is represented by private attorney Cong Nie.
In a five-page complaint filed March 9 in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, Rizalina Bermudes Reyes claims that Dynamic Core Group Inc. violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not compensating her for 15 to 30 minutes of additional work she said she performed “almost every day” after customers finished late-night meals at the Garapan restaurant.
Reyes worked for the company from July 2022 through December 2024 at a regular rate of $8.03 per hour. Her schedule was initially 40 hours per week before being reduced to 32 hours in mid-2023. According to the complaint, the company paid her based solely on her scheduled hours, regardless of the time she actually worked.
Her lawsuit alleges that when she was scheduled for 40 hours, the extra minutes constituted unpaid overtime, and when her schedule dropped to 32 hours, the additional time still went uncompensated as regular hours.
Reyes also claims the company maintained a deliberate policy of not paying non-exempt employees for work performed past their scheduled shifts.
Dynamic Core Group, which operates Shirley’s Coffee Shop in Garapan and Susupe, is accused of willfully violating federal wage laws even though employees were required to clock in and out and the company maintained records of hours worked.
Reyes asserts claims for FLSA violations and breach of contract, seeking compensatory and liquidated damages.
Dynamic Core Group has not yet filed a response.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
