A federal judge has ordered the owners of a Jacksonville daycare to supply the names of anyone who might want to join a lawsuit against it.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless directed Janene G. Purdon-Menke and Menke Inc. to turn over names and contact information for potential plaintiffs who might want to opt into a lawsuit against Purdon-Menke and her daycare, Little Red Wagon. Lawless issued the order in an opinion filed May 27.
The daycare at 747 W. Lafayette Ave. has been at the heart of a nearly 2-year-old lawsuit alleging wage and time violations and whistleblower retaliation.
Former employee Taylor B. Day filed a complaint against Purdon-Menke and Menke Inc. in August 2024 alleging she and other employees were improperly paid or not paid at all for overtime hours. The suit contends Purdon-Menke sorted work time into different “baskets” and allegedly offered employees healthcare benefits instead of overtime pay.
The complaint also accuses Purdon-Menke of firing Day for providing truthful testimony to Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. According to the suit, Day spoke with the department in June 2024 about the conditions at Little Red Wagon, after which it received a violation.
The suit further alleges Purdon-Menke deducted all the money from Day’s final paycheck as payment for childcare services rendered for daycare employees.
Since the lawsuit’s initial filing, Purdon-Menke opened Little Blue Wagon in Rochester in 2024 and Little Yellow Wagon in Springfield in 2025. A January social media post from the city of Pittsfield announced Purdon-Menke would open Lil’ Purple Wagon in that city, though an opening date was not mentioned and no other information about the new location has been forthcoming.
Day filed a motion Jan. 7, 2025, asking for collective notice to be sent to Purdon-Menke’s former employees who may want to join the suit. The court denied the filing Sept. 26 with leave to refile once it addressed how, if at all, it would be impacted by the findings of Richards v. Eli Lilly & Co.
Decided in August 2025, Richards set forth standards for district courts for giving collective notice, requiring that plaintiffs make a “threshold showing” there is a “material factual dispute” as to whether a collective is situated in a similar position to them.
Purdon-Menke asked the court to deny Day’s motion, arguing the latter’s reasoning was “based entirely on conclusory allegations contained in unnotarized declarations and exhibits that constitute inadmissable hearsay,” according to the filing. However, the court found evidence submitted by Day and fellow former employee Lindsay Brown, such as paychecks, was enough to meet the “threshold showing” required for collective notice.
The court denied the argument, saying constructive notice was insufficient as collective notice under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Richards or the findings of other higher authorities.
“Even if constructive notice was sufficient in some cases, the court finds a single newspaper article that is discussed on the radio would not provide constructive notice to potential plaintiffs,” it said.
The court ruled Purdon-Menke had 30 days to supply Day with the names, aliases and contact information for any potential plaintiff who worked for Purdon-Menke any time after Aug. 16, 2021.