PRESCOTT, Ariz. — Recently, store managers for AutoZone Inc. have reached a settlement in their wage and overtime pay collective action lawsuit. The parties reached their settlement shortly before the lawsuit was scheduled to begin a five-day trial. The store managers claim AutoZone misclassified them as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The settlement must now receive preliminary approval from the Arizona federal judge and the class members as a whole. The terms of the settlement between the auto parts retailer and its store managers were not disclosed.
AutoZone Manager Classification
Michael Taylor, a former AutoZone store manager of 14 months, filed the lawsuit in July 2010. Taylor alleges that the company misclassified its store managers and denied them overtime pay. The lawsuit further claims that store managers were regularly scheduled to work 50 hours a week. The store managers allege they worked at least the 50 hours they were scheduled, if not more. The store managers’ claims date back three years, which is the statutory maximum, from the date the case was filed.
The Arizona federal judge overseeing the case had previously rejected the company’s request to decertify the class of current and former store managers. In May 2011, the collective action received conditional class certification to cover store managers in every state except California because AutoZone classified its California store managers as nonexempt and, therefore, entitled to overtime wages, which they received. After the collective action received conditional class certification, close to 1,500 store managers joined the lawsuit.
In 2012, AutoZone was granted summary judgment, or the Court determined there were no questions of fact, and the case was dismissed. However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel found the summary judgment was improper and that there were numerous factual issues. Many of these issues revolved around the extent of the managerial tasks the store managers were assigned and performed in comparison to the customer service and other non-managerial tasks the completed on a regular basis.
Manager Responsibilities
Under the FLSA, there are no specific job responsibilities or duties required for a manager to be classified as exempt under the executive exemption. While there are no specific responsibilities, a manager’s primary duty must be managing the enterprise or a recognized division and regularly directing the work of at least two other full-time equivalent employees. Based on these requirements, managers can perform tasks similar to that of hourly employees. But, if the managers are classified as exempt, their primary responsibilities and the majority of their duties must be managing.
If you are a department, assistant, or store manager, the majority of your duties and responsibilities are similar to hourly employees, and you are classified as exempt, you may have a claim for misclassification and unpaid overtime pay. There are strict time limitations for filing a claim. Contact our team of overtime pay lawyers today! Our experienced legal team can be reached at (855) 754-2795 or through our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form.