May 9, 2013.[1] His salary was $26,824 per year. When Andrews began working for the college, he received compensation time for any hours worked beyond his average forty-hour work week. According to Andrews, his "comp time stopped" in August 2011. RMCC classified him as exempt from the overtime requirements set forth in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act (AMWA). RMCC terminated Andrews for insubordination in May 2013.
On November 14, 2013, Andrews filed a complaint against RMCC pursuant to the AMWA for failing to compensate him for working overtime. On January 29, 2014, Andrews filed a first amended and substituted complaint, alleging violations of the overtime provisions of the AMWA and seeking overtime and liquidated damages. In his prayer for relief, he requested (1) the entry of a declaratory judgment that RMCC's pay practices violated the AMWA; (2) the entry of a judgment for damages for all unpaid regular rate and overtime compensation under the AMWA; (3) an award of liquidated damages pursuant to the AMWA; (4) the entry of a judgment for punitive damages owed to Andrews pursuant to the Arkansas Civil Justice Reform Act in an amount to be proven at trial; (5) the entry of a judgment for any and all civil penalties to which Andrews may be entitled; and (6) an order directing RMCC to pay Andrews prejudgment interest, attorney's fees, and costs.
RMCC answered and pleaded sovereign immunity as an affirmative defense. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment, which the circuit court denied. Subsequently, on August 18, 2016, RMCC filed a motion to dismiss Andrews's complaint,
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