New York City — Reports recently surfaced indicating the two sides in a class action unpaid overtime lawsuit recently agreed to settlement terms between grocery store chain Price Chopper and potentially thousands of current and former workers who claimed the defendant owes them for hundreds of hours of back pay. The $6.5 million settlement will resolve claims with workers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York but allow the defendant to avoid admitting any wrongdoing for what the lawsuit described as illegal and unfair business practices meant to shortchange workers.
The class action unpaid overtime lawsuit, originally filed in 2014 in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, claimed Price Chopper and its corporate owners intentionally misclassified workers as overtime exempt to avoid paying these individuals for all their hours worked and increase profits. The plaintiffs allege they were classified as “team leaders” in various departments throughout stores and given the titles, but not duties of managers as a facade of compliance with state and federal wage laws.
The plaintiffs allege that although they were given the tiles of managers, Price Chopper did not expect these workers to perform any of the duties in keeping with such a designation and instead performed essentially the same tasks as most hourly non-overtime exempt workers. These team leaders regularly worked over 40 hours per week in the bakery, deli, meat, seafood, grocery, front-end and produce departments but did not receive one and a half times their average hourly pay as compensation for overtime wages.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), workers classified as managers must perform certain duties vital to the day to day operations of a business in order to qualify as overtime exempt employees. Many of these expected duties include the ability to hire and fire workers, set pay rates, discipline subordinates, and set work schedules. Unfortunately for many workers, business attempt to take advantage of these laws to suppress worker pay to benefit the bottom line of the company.
Assistant Manager Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
Call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page if you believe that your wage rights are being violated under the FLSA. Our top-rated team of unpaid wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action to help you seek justice.
Our office will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. Because strict time limitations apply for filing these types of claims, we advise you contact our experienced unpaid overtime wage attorneys at your earliest convenience and preserve your legal rights.