Sandra McCoy has taken legal action against her former employer, alleging significant violations of labor laws and breach of contract. On November 16, 2025, Sandra McCoy filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Blue Star Kitchen, Inc., and its CEO, Alre Alston. The lawsuit claims that McCoy was denied fair compensation during her tenure as a Human Resources manager at the company.
According to the court documents, McCoy accuses Blue Star Kitchen and Alston of failing to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by not paying her due wages and overtime. The complaint states that McCoy was employed until April 20, 2024, earning $3,078.92 bi-weekly. However, she alleges that she did not receive two bi-weekly payments totaling $6,157.84. Furthermore, she claims that despite working over 40 hours per week regularly, she was never compensated at one and a half times her regular pay rate for overtime work. “Defendants’ policy and practice of classifying Plaintiff as an exempt employee violated the FLSA,” reads the complaint.
McCoy’s legal team argues that Blue Star Kitchen’s actions constitute a willful violation of labor laws designed to evade FLSA requirements intentionally. They assert that McCoy was misclassified as an exempt employee under FLSA regulations when she should have been eligible for overtime pay. Additionally, the defendants allegedly failed to maintain accurate records of hours worked by McCoy, further breaching federal labor standards.
The plaintiff is seeking various forms of relief from the court. These include unpaid wages under FLSA provisions, liquidated damages equal to unpaid compensation found due, pre-judgment interest on unpaid wages, court costs, expert witness fees, reasonable attorneys’ fees as provided by 29 U.S.C. §216(b), and other remedies allowed under FLSA guidelines. Moreover, McCoy seeks judgment awarding her straight time for all unpaid wages and damages permitted by Georgia law.
In addition to claims under federal law, McCoy also brings forward state-level accusations against Blue Star Kitchen for breach of contract and quantum meruit under Georgia common law. She asserts that despite fulfilling all conditions required by her employment agreement with Blue Star Kitchen—such as working agreed-upon hours—the company failed to compensate her accordingly.
The case highlights issues surrounding wage theft in employment settings where workers are misclassified or denied rightful earnings through deceptive practices or negligence on behalf of employers like Blue Star Kitchen Inc., which reportedly has annual gross sales exceeding $500k but still allegedly neglected its obligations towards employees like Sandra McCoy.
Representing Sandra McCoy is attorney Steven B. Becker from Becker Law LLC based in Decatur Georgia while presiding over this matter is Judge JPB with Case ID: 1:25-cv-06576-JPB.
Source: 125cv06576_Sandra_Maccoy_v_Blue_Star_Complaint_Northern_District_of_Georgia.pdf
