LOS ANGELES — Canon Business Solutions Inc.’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) settlement for $4.4 million was given preliminary approval by a California federal judge recently. In the lawsuit, a group of service technicians filed against Canon, alleging the company failed to pay overtime and docked them for meal breaks they did not take.
Service technicians provide on-site technical and customer service to Canon’s clients. To do this, service technicians are given assignments from the company’s dispatchers for a set geographical area and must travel from one customer location to another. Since the technician’s duties require traveling, the time spent in transit is counted toward the technician’s “hours worked.” However, travel and service schedules frequently make set and consistent meal periods difficult. It can also make it difficult for some to calculate how many hours technicians worked each week.
The two named plaintiffs, Steven Jones and Javier Crespo, brought their lawsuits in 2012 claiming Canon violated California and New York employment laws and the FLSA. Canon allegedly failed to pay the technicians overtime for the hours they worked beyond the 40 hours they worked. The company’s time system also automatically deducted 45 min for lunch breaks regardless of whether the technicians actually took a lunch break or how long of a break they took. Furthermore, they claim that the company’s scheduling and service policies did not allow technicians to take meal breaks, even though the company’s time system was set to make the automatic deductions. While Canon does not admit to these violations, the parties have agreed to the terms of the settlement. The final hearing for court approval will take place in September.
If the proposed settlement is approved, there will be three classes in this class action. The first two classes are based on whether the member technician worked for Canon in New York or in California during a specific time for each state. The third group includes any Canon service technician who worked in other states during the period of June 2010 to March 2014. This last group is based on the federal FLSA violations. Within the three classes there are three additional groups that will determine the amount of payment received in the settlement: those who were not deposed, or asked questions under oath; those who were deposed; and the named plaintiffs who brought the initial lawsuit.
If you are a service technician and believe you have been wrongfully denied overtime pay or meal breaks, call our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 to discuss your situation. Or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page and our experienced legal team will evaluate your case. 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.