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Chattanooga-based Steam Logistics to settle lawsuit by former employee

Staff photo / The lobby is seen at Steam Logistics on May 31, 2024.
Staff photo / The lobby is seen at Steam Logistics on May 31, 2024. Staff photo / The lobby is seen at Steam Logistics on May 31, 2024.

Steam Logistics, a Chattanooga-based freight broker, plans to settle a collective action lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleged the company “operated a willful scheme” to deprive her and others of overtime pay.

Blanche Shelton worked at Steam Logistics as a sales coordinator from March 2022 to July 2023 and filed a lawsuit against the company in December.

She received an annual salary of about $40,000, and Shelton estimates she received less than $5,000 in commissions over the course of her employment. The complaint states Shelton and other employees routinely worked more than 40 hours per week without receiving overtime pay.

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She and other sales coordinators were required to work long hours to handle all shipment-related tasks, including those occurring late in the evening and early in the morning, to hit certain sales and prospecting targets, the lawsuit states.