I worked for a hotel company with 3 hotels for 6 years as Operations Support Manager. After two years I was demoted and given the title of operations Manager. I was in charge of maintenance in one hotel, with a staff that was budgeted with 32 hrs of help. I did the ordering, supervision, scheduling, etc.
My question is, when I was demoted they kept me on salary, but my job duties as a supervisor was a joke as I physically helped and did repairs myself no less than 90 percent of the time. I was constantly getting called in to work in any emergency, and averaged at least 50 hrs of work a week. Then they wrote me up for delegating to much of my work out, cut my helps hours, and finally, when I could not keep up with the pace, they gave me the options of giving them an 8 week notice, or they said they would fire me so I couldn't collect unemployment. I gave my notice and worked the eight weeks. I did win my umemployment benefits from them. Should I have been considered a exempt employee as far as overtime laws are concerned.

In my opinion, based on your description, you were a non-exempt employee and eligible for overtime. You have a limited amount of time to file a claim - you can file a claim with the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division or with your state. (Some states don't have a process for the wage claim process.)

By the way, even if they had fired you, you may still be eligible for unemployment, depending on the reason for the termination. Termination for things such as gross misconduct will stop a person from getting unemployment. However, termination for performance reasons may end up with unemployment, especially if it appealed.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.