Former Walmart managers seeking to maintain overtime lawsuit as class action suit
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- A group of former Walmart warehouse managers asked a Georgia federal judge to allow them to move ahead with a class action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to pay federally mandated overtime wages.
- The request comes in the wake of a magistrate judge’s recommendation that the former Walmart workers pursue their claims individually.
- The group, which consists of 35 former workers, argues individual litigation would increase costs, cause stress and waste time.
- The plaintiffs first filed their complaint in January 2023 and amended it in March 2023 to add dozens of additional plaintiffs.
- The former Walmart workers argue the company misclassified them as overtime-exempt so they would not receive any additional pay for working more than 40 hours in a single workweek.
Walmart overtime pay lawsuit overview:
- Who: A group of former Walmart managers filed a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Associates Inc.
- Why: The former Walmart workers argue the company failed to pay them their federally mandated overtime wages.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Georgia federal court.
(Feb. 23, 2023)
Walmart failed to properly compensate a group of former workers from Georgia by allegedly withholding their federally-mandated overtime pay, a new lawsuit alleges.
The group of former Walmart managers collectively claim the multinational retail corporation denied them their “clearly established rights” by paying them “no overtime premium wages whatsoever.”
The former Walmart workers collectively argue that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
“(Walmart) failed to adequately and lawfully compensate Plaintiffs as required by the FLSA,” the lawsuit states.
Walmart was aware that it was required to pay overtime at the rate of “one and one half the employee’s regular rate of pay” to an employee that worked more than 40 hours during a single workweek, the Walmart lawsuit alleges.
Walmart improperly determined managers were exempt from overtime pay, lawsuit says
Walmart is accused of determining that the group of Walmart managers were exempt from receiving overtime pay due to their status as managers, even though their roles allegedly would not have prevented them from being eligible.
“At all times relevant to this action, each Plaintiff was non-exempt from the overtime pay requirements as afforded by the FLSA,” the Walmart lawsuit states.
One former worker, Gary Kirk, meanwhile argues that Walmart violated the FMLA by allegedly terminating him “in retaliation” for him “using his federally-mandated rights” to family medical leave.
“Use of FMLA rights was a motivating factor in the adverse employment action of termination suffered by Plaintiff Kirk,” the Walmart lawsuit states.
The former Walmart managers are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with an award of liquidated damages, unpaid overtime compensation and prejudgment interest on all amounts owed.
Walmart agreed to a class action settlement in October of last year to resolve claims the company underpaid its workers by allegedly failing to properly include bonuses when calculating their sick pay.
Have you been denied overtime pay by your employer? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Beverly A. Lucas of Lucas & Leon LLC.
The Walmart overtime pay lawsuit is Simmons, et al. v. Wal-Mart Associates Inc., Case No. 2:23-cv-00015, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.