NEW YORK — Modell”s Sporting Goods Inc. recently received preliminary court approval of its settlement in the collective action overtime lawsuit brought by its assistant store managers. The assistant store managers claimed the sporting goods chain misclassified them as exempt from overtime time pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state labor laws. The settlement, which still needs to be approved by the class members and receive final court approval, creates an $800,000 fund to cover attorneys’ fees and costs and plaintiff awards.
The Managers’ Claim
The initial lawsuit filed against Modell for this misclassification was filed in New York in April 2011 by Francisco Ferreira. Ferreira is a former New York Modell assistant manager who worked for the company from December 2006 to February 2011. Ferreira claimed he, and other assistant store managers at New York store locations, regularly worked between 50 and 55 hours each week. However, the majority of his work, about 90 percent, was allegedly spent on nonexempt duties. The nonexempt work in Ferreira’s case was work similar to that of store associates and included cleaning stockrooms and preparing for customers. According to Ferreira’s claim, the fact that the majority of his time was spent on non-managerial duties means his job responsibilities fall short of FLSA requirements for overtime exemptions.
Exempt and Nonexempt Work
Under the FLSA and state labor laws, there are certain types of work which qualify or indicate that an employee is either exempt or nonexempt from overtime pay. Generally, if an employer is going to classify an employee as exempt, as in this case under the executive exemption, then the employee’s primary job duties must be related to the managing of a business or a department of a business. These managerial duties can be considered as exempt work, while the work performed by those they are directing or supervising is likely nonexempt work.
Exempt employees can perform nonexempt work and still be considered exempt from overtime. If the majority of their duties are nonexempt, then it is possible the exempt employee has been misclassified. However, there is no clear cut standard for determining when the amount of nonexempt work performed by exempt employees makes them nonexempt employees under the FLSA or state laws; which is why employers are instructed to evaluate each employee’s duties before making exemption status determinations.
Ferreira claimed the majority of his work as an exempt employee was nonexempt. In response to Ferreira’s claims, Modell’s claimed that more than three dozen assistant managers provided statements claiming the majority of their work was spent on managerial tasks. This clearly illustrates the need for individual assessment when applying overtime exemptions. If you believe your employer failed to properly evaluate your duties before classifying your position as exempt, call our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795. We will evaluate your case and, 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.