Overton Hotel responds to lawsuit by former manager

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Back in November, the former restaurant manager for the Overton Hotel filed a labor lawsuit, claiming she was fired in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act. On Wednesday, the management company for the Overton, 1859 Historic Hotels Ltd., responded.

Kerri Wike claims she never had a bad job review prior to taking leave to care for her mother in the summer of last year. She claims that when she came back to work on Sept. 1, she was given the choice to resign or be fired.

A five-page response by the company denies that Wike was fired in retaliation for taking time off under the FMLA.

The Overton says, "All actions taken by the Defendant were in good faith, were made in conformance with applicable law, were taken based on reasonable grounds for believing that its actions were not in violation of law, and were for legitimate, nonretaliatory reasons."

Other than denying retaliation, the Overton's response is not specific as to why Wike was fired.

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