Carnie's life not all fun and games, suit charges

A former maintenance worker and ride operator at one of New England's largest carnival operators says he was forced to work up to 95 hours a week, but was never paid overtime.

In a lawsuit against Fiesta Shows, Jorge Pilar Garcia is seeking back overtime for himself and some 200 other carnival workers. He filed the suit in June in state court; it was moved into federal court this week.

Pilar Garcia, a resident of Tiapacoyan, Mexico, says he worked for Fiesta between March, 2010 and October, 2011, under an H2-B visa, like many other Fiesta workers. He alleges he was never paid more than a flat $400 a week for 40 hours a week, even though he mostly worked far longer hours - at times, 22 hours a day, he claims. That means he earned less than the state minimum hourly wage, he says.

The suit seeks back overtime plus triple damages and lawyers' fees.