Eight employees of the Natchez-Adams School District are taking the school system to court for not paying overtime.

The federal suit, filed in U.S. District Court Western Division last month, is part of a statewide case targeting at least 31 of Mississippi’s 149 school districts.

The Natchez employees are suing for a total of 2,484 hours in overtime or 216 to 540 hours per person, dating back to Sept. 11, 1997. They are also asking for other damages, attorney fees and other costs.

Plaintiff Francis Foster, who works in the West Primary School cafeteria, said in past years she has not received a break while at work. &uot;We deserve our 30 minutes of break every day,&uot; said Foster, who added she did not want to cause confusion or hurt anyone by her actions.

The workers eligible to file suit include bus drivers, janitors, teacher assistants and other hourly employees.

&uot;These are the guts of the school system,&uot; said Sam Brand Jr., a Jackson, Miss., attorney. &uot;If the buses don’t run, the kids don’t get there. If the cafeteria workers don’t cook, there’s no food.&uot;

Brand and a team of attorneys, including former U.S. Rep. Mike Espy, are handling the case.

The court served paperwork on Natchez-Adams Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis Monday, and he has 20 days to respond.

Davis said he resents the way the employees had handled the matter. &uot;Not one of those workers came to me and complained that they were due overtime,&uot; he said.

In recent weeks, Davis said he has met with 35 hourly employees to discuss unpaid overtime. Those 35 workers will receive a check in the next two weeks for the amount due, Davis said. For the people who filed suit, the process could take two years, Davis said.

&uot;I really resent the fact that (the employees who filed suit) did not come to us,&uot; he said.

By filing suit, the only people who win are the attorneys, he said.

&uot;We would have been more than happy to sit down with them and come up with some type of agreement,&uot; Davis said.

From what he understood, the plaintiffs agreed to pay 50 percent of any settlement to the attorneys.

Davis and other state educators worry this lawsuit could result in expensive litigation and take money away from students and taxpayers.

Last March, a two-year-old overtime complaint filed in Oktibbeha County was settled and cost the school district $500,000.

Espy estimated lawsuit could result in millions if dollars in worker compensation statewide.

&uot;It’s just unfortunate they decided it was necessary to hire some attornies and file this lawsuit,&uot; when the board wanted to work with them, said Jim Keith, attorney for the Natchez district.

Foster said she was surprised only a few workers had filed suit. And when she decided to file she did not know she could have talked with the district about the problem.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.