SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Springfield, Ohio — For Jennifer Adams, it's not about the money.

Instead, her decision to join a class action lawsuit against Clark County-based Speedway SuperAmerica is about rallying behind the former employees who had the sheer gall to claim what they say they are owed in unpaid overtime for "off-the-clock" tasks.

"I just want to back them up," said Adams, 31, a former Speedway assistant manager who says she too felt obligated to perform tasks outside of work hours and never got paid.

At least three Clark County residents have recently joined the lawsuit filed in April to seek unpaid back wages, said attorney Jim Zouras of Stephan Zouras law firm in Chicago.

Speedway has denied the allegations, Zouras said.

"It's got a lot of attention in a lot of states where Speedway does business," said Zouras, who initially had clients in only Illinois and Minnesota.

The lawsuit did get Adams' attention. She worked for Speedway for 7½ years and said in that time, "maybe two out of the six or seven store managers I worked for said, 'Do not work unless you are getting paid.' "

Adams said she didn't have a life outside of Speedway and she had to be on call and take calls off the clock.

"I didn't know until almost the end of my term that you were supposed to get paid," Adams said. She found out at an assistant managers' training class.

Doing gas surveys, taking calls and going back to the store to handle issues off the clock also sounds very familiar to Colletta Campos, 22.

"If something didn't get done, I would have to do it or get in trouble," said Campos, a former assistant manager who has not joined the lawsuit. "But if I went over my hours, I was in trouble. So I automatically clocked out and finished the job. It was a lose-lose situation."

Adams and Campos believe that situations like theirs happen at other Speedway stores.

"Most people in these situations don't say anything because they are scared," Adams said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.

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