He says he was fired after asking for fair pay. Now he's suing a local company owner.

A former lumber company employee is suing the company's president, alleging the president made the employee work on his private house and build company offices without paying him overtime and then fired the employee for complaining to human resources.

In a suit filed in Southern Illinois District Court, Michael Bold claimed R. P. Lumber's president Richard Plummer hired him in 2016 as a project manager and fired him in January 2018 for complaining about unfair wages.

Plummer did not return requests for comment.

During his time as project manager, Bold's lawsuit states his primary job was to renovate and work on Plummer's property and the property of Plummer's daughters.

Bold said in the suit that the manual work included carpentry, electrical, plumbing, furniture moving, roofing and general construction.

Bold also claimed in the lawsuit that in November 2017, he spent nearly all of his hours removing mantel pieces and hearths from Plummer's home and building and installing new pieces.

In December, the suit alleges Bold worked on R.P. Lumber's headquarters in Edwardsville. The work included carpentry, heating, air-conditioning, framing new walls, installing base boards and installing wiring.

The suit claims Bold complained to R.P. Lumber's human resources director, David Goodhue, multiple times about not being paid overtime for his work. Goodhue allegedly agreed with Bold that he should be paid overtime, but there was nothing he could do.

After complaining about not being paid multiple times, Bold claims he was fired in January and told the company "was going in a different direction."

Bold's lawyer did not return requests for comment.

This story was originally published July 9, 2018 at 8:00 AM.