ST. LOUIS - A class action lawsuit leveled against the City of St. Louis and St. Louis Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly accuses the city of illegally keeping an earnings tax refund entitled to nonresidents of St. Louis who worked outside of the city, according to documents filed on March 29 in federal court.
The suit comes from plaintiffs Mark Boles, Nicholas Oar and Kos Semonski, who say the defendants wrongfully stopped issuing the refund on the 1% earnings tax on salaries, wages, commissions and other profits for work done or services performed within St. Louis. Prior to 2020, the city issued refunds to those subject to the tax who worked outside of the city for a certain number of days.
The plaintiffs telecommuted from their home addresses outside of St. Louis to their St. Louis-based employers due to the COVID-19 pandemic; consequentially, they say they should not be subjected to the 1% earnings tax for working in the city since they worked from home.
The plaintiffs allege that the withholding of the refund is a violation of substantive due process and right to be free of unreasonable seizures under the 14th Amendment.
The plaintiffs are represented by W. Bevis Schock of St. Louis and the Milton Law Group of St. Louis.