Workers Can’t Get A Break
Posted on November 2, 2005 by webteam
Today we learned about another class-action lawsuit accusing Wal-Mart of underpaying workers.
Jackson County, Missouri Circuit Judge Sandra C. Midkiff’s ruling affects between 160,000 and 200,000 former and current Wal-Mart employees who worked at Wal-Mart Discount Stores, Wal-Mart Supercenters and Sam’s Club stores from Aug. 15, 1996 through June 30, 2003. The lawsuit, which was filed in 2001, charges Wal-Mart committed “acts of wage abuse” against its hourly employees by forcing them to work off the clock, failing to pay them overtime, and preventing them from taking rest and lunch breaks. [Kansas City Star, 11/2]
Wal-Mart spokesperson Christi Gallagher denied the allegation, but left the door open for the rogue manager excuse.
“Wal-Mart’s policy is to pay associates for every minute they work. Any manager who requires or even tolerates ‘off-the-clock’ work would be violating company policy and subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”
But evidence shows the abuses are systematic, not the actions of some rogue store manager.
“What sets the Missouri case apart is that for the first time, Wal-Mart was forced by the court to provide outside access to its electronic database,” said Steve Long, lead trial attorney on the case, in a statement. “Based on Wal-Mart’s own data, it’s abundantly clear they’re forcing employees collectively to work many thousands of hours each month without pay. What they’re doing is illegal.” [St. Louis Business Journal, 11/2]
