The Wayfarer Motel in Myrtle Beach, S.C. fired employee Reginald Cunningham last year, after Cunningham told management the motel was violating federal wage laws, a federal lawsuit alleges.
The Wayfarer Motel ranks among Myrtle Beach Hotels as making the news often for all of the wrong reasons.
Cunningham had worked the front desk of the motel for more than a year when he was fired last January, the complaint states.
The Wayfarer paid Cunningham $9 per hour for the first 40 hours he worked each week and then $8 per hour “off the books” for each subsequent hour worked. Cunningham states he was unaware this practice was against the law and he was unaware he should have been paid for overtime.
Cunningham states he discovered in late 2021, when he was considering starting his own business, that federal labor laws require employers to pay employees one-and-a-half times their normal rate of pay for overtime, according to the suit.
Cunningham filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor and sent a letter explaining his complaint to the motel owner, I.G. Patel. Patel subsequently fired Cunningham with no reason given.
Cunningham’s lawsuit alleges the termination was strictly retaliation for his wage complaint.
The Wayfarer Motel and the Sea Dunes Ocean Front Motel operate under the ownership of Naman, LLC.
WAYFARER MOTEL often in the news
In June 2017, this shootout in downtown of Myrtle Beach guests staying in this area went viral.
Four charged after armed robbery at Wayfarer Motel in Myrtle Beach
On June 14, 2019, this article went viral about four people charged with armed robbery.
Report: Myrtle Beach man held gun against woman’s head, threatened to kill her
This June 10, 2020 article on the Wayfarer also went viral. The article reads: The victim said the suspect, identified as Corey Bellamy, picked her up at work and the two headed to the Wayfarer Motel. She said the two had been intimate before, but they were not in a relationship.
The Wayfarer Motel is located 311 N Ocean Blvd, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. In just the past few years, the City of Myrtle Beach has worked to close this and similar Myrtle Beach Hotels. The city even went as far as purchasing the Sea Nymph, the Fountain Bluea Inn, The Oasis, and the Midtown Motel in an effort to improve the town’s downtown reputation.