NORTHAMPTON — A former banquet chef at an Amherst hotel, claiming she was not paid for overtime work during her two years on the job, is bringing a wage theft lawsuit against the Connecticut company that manages the Inn on Boltwood.
Alexandra Paquin, of South Hadley, filed the potential class-action lawsuit, under both the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the state’s laws governing wages and hours, in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday. Her attorney estimates that Paquin suffered $50,000 to $100,000 in lost wages.
The defendant is the Waterford Hotel Group LLC of Waterford, a company that operates hotels in Massachusetts and other states and runs the Inn on Boltwood, formerly the Lord Jeffery Inn.
Paquin said in a statement supplied by her attorney, Michael Aleo, that she didn’t want to bring a lawsuit against Waterford, and having lived paycheck to paycheck, didn’t want to jeopardize her income or the job she started Nov. 28, 2019, but wanted to be paid and treated fairly.
Before she was fired Dec. 3, 2021, a week after leaving a shift early, Paquin said she was working 50 to 70 or more hours per week, being paid $24.53 to $26.90 per hour for the 40 hours. Those hours were burning her out, she said, even though when Paquin started in the hospitality industry her impression was that was normal.
“After some time, I realized that taking advantage of people working for you in this way is not only illegal, but inhumane as well,” Paquin stated.
The lawsuit states that she...
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