Ex-employee claims resort misclassified her role and withheld bonus after job reclassification
A former catering director has taken two Florida hospitality companies to court, alleging she was denied overtime pay and a promised sales bonus after a sudden job reclassification.
On October 20, 2025, Kaela Strelec initiated legal action in the Southern District of Florida against CCHI Singer Island, LLC, which operates The Singer Oceanfront Resort, and Davidson Hotel Company, LLC, its management partner. Strelec claims the companies misclassified her as exempt from overtime, failed to pay her for extra hours worked, and withheld a bonus after she resigned.
Strelec says she began working as Director of Catering at the Singer Oceanfront Resort on May 1, 2024. She describes her role as demanding long hours—often between 45 and 55 hours a week—managing event sales, client relationships, event execution, and staff supervision. Despite these extended hours, Strelec claims she was paid a fixed salary of $72,000 and was not required to log her time or clock in and out.
She alleges that, although classified as an exempt employee, her duties were operational and client-facing, not managerial or administrative. Strelec estimates she worked between five and fifteen hours of overtime each week from May 2024 through February 2025, totaling approximately 260 to 780 hours of unpaid overtime. She contends that her responsibilities did not meet the federal requirements for overtime exemption.
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