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Avis Overtime Settlement Sent Back For More Detail

Avis Budget Car Rental LLC and its shift managers believed they had reached a settlement in their class action overtime pay lawsuit. But a Florida federal judge has refused to approve the settlement as it currently is. The judge returned the settlement offer with instructions to provide more information within 30 days regarding how much and how many plaintiffs will receive payouts when the funds are distributed.

The Car Rental Claim

Bernar Espanol, the named plaintiff and shift manager at a large airport location, filed his lawsuit in April 2010. In his lawsuit, Espanol claims on behalf of himself and other shift managers, that the car rental company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it misclassified shift managers as exempt from FLSA overtime pay. In many instances, manager positions, even shift manager positions, are exempt from overtime. However, determining if a position is exempt is intended to be on a case by case basis, not a sweeping position-wide presumption.

Espanol and the potential plaintiffs gained conditional certification in October 2011. The conditional certification included current and former shift managers working in 82 airport locations from October 2008 to 2011. In April 2013 the Avis shift managers requested the second stage certification, which they were granted in March 2014. The parties began negotiating and reached a settlement in June. They then filed the current agreement with the court for preliminary approval in September.

Terms of the Settlement

Even though the court returned the settlement for greater clarity, the majority of the terms were satisfactory. The terms that are clear include Avis agreeing to pay Espanol $12,000 as a service payment for his time and efforts during the process. Each plaintiff who was deposed will also receive $1,000 for their services. Avis will pay $762,000 into a fund for opt-in plaintiffs. And the plaintiffs’ attorneys would receive $300,000.

The area in which the court is requesting additional information is regards to the close to $424,000 that is to be distributed to other opt-in plaintiffs. The plaintiffs sharing in the $424,000 would be divided into two groups, one for those who are “subject to a motion for summary judgment” and one for those who are not. Currently there are no specific numbers on how many plaintiffs will receive $250 by being in the group subject to summary judgment or how many are in the other group whose payouts will be calculated based on the number of weeks the plaintiff worked as a manager or $250, if the calculation is less than $250.

There are many factors to consider when going into an overtime lawsuit and possibly even more when entering into a settlement. Dedicated overtime pay lawyers have the knowledge and experience to evaluate and discuss your options and situation realistically. If you believe your employer has misclassified your position or has denied you overtime for other reasons, contact our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers today. Call us at (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.

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