DEC-Holiday-2008:Holiday Issue
12/16/08
10:05 AM
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Wal-Mart settles wage lawsuit for $54 million
By BARB KUCERA
HASTINGS, Minn. (PAI) — In
yet another instance of corporate
wage theft from workers, some
100,000 current and former hourly
employees of Wal-Mart and Sam’s
Club stores in Minnesota — and the
state itself — will share up to $54
million from the giant retailer under a
legal settlement announced Dec. 9.
The agreement is the final stage in
a massive wage-and-hour class action
suit that put a spotlight on Wal-Mart’s
practice of having employees work
through their rest and meal breaks.
It’s the latest in a series of such suits
Wal-Mart has lost nationwide.
In July, Dakota County District
Judge Robert King ruled the company
committed more than 2 million viola-
tions of the Minnesota Fair Labor
Standards Act and ordered it to pay
$6.5 million in back pay. The judge
then scheduled a jury trial to deter-
mine civil penalties and punitive dam-
ages, which could have reached bil-
lions of dollars. By reaching a settle-
ment, Wal-Mart and the workers a-
voided going to trial.
The lawsuit covers workers at Wal-
Mart stores and Sam’s Clubs loca-
tions in Minnesota for just under 10
years, from Sept. 11, 1998, through
Nov. 14, 2008. The agreement also
includes “a substantial payment to the
state of Minnesota,” according to a
joint statement by Wal-Mart and
Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand,
one law firm representing the work-
ers.
“We are satisfied with this settle-
ment, gratified these hourly workers
will now be paid after seven years of
DECEMBER 19, 2008
litigation, and happy that the state ...
will receive the largest wage and hour
civil penalty in its history,” said Justin
Perl, an attorney for the workers.
Company spokesman David Tovar
claimed the giant retailer, known for
its anti-worker actions — including
frequently forcing workers to toil “off
the clock” — “is pleased the court in
Minnesota ruled in its favor on many
claims.” Tovar did not say what the
pro-company rulings were.
Tovar also claimed Wal-Mart’s
“company policy” is to pay its work-
ers, whom it calls “associates,” “for
every hour worked and to make rest
and meal breaks available.”
He added that: “Any manager who
violates these policies is subject to
discipline, up to and including termi-
nation. We remain committed to pro-
viding good jobs with real career op-
portunity to the 1.45 million U.S.
associates who choose to work for
Wal-Mart and serve our customers
every day.”
Other evidence, both in the Min-
nesota court and produced from other
sources nationwide, belies Tovar’s
statements about Wal-Mart disciplin-
ing managers who overwork employ-
ees without pay and who violate wage
and hour laws.
In his ruling in July, Judge King
found Wal-Mart repeatedly and will-
fully violated Minnesota labor laws or
its contract with its employees on the
issues of contractual rest breaks,
statutory meal breaks, shaving time
from paid rest breaks and failure to
maintain accurate records.
In his decision, King found Wal-
Mart was aware that employees were
not receiving breaks to which they
were entitled. “In essence, they (Wal-
Mart) put their heads in the sand,”
King stated.
In testimony before King, former
Wal-Mart workers described being
forced to miss breaks so they could
keep up with the work, even to the
point of not having time to go to the
bathroom.
As part of the settlement, Wal-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Mart agreed to maintain various elec-
tronic systems, surveys, and notices
that will further compliance with
wage and hour policies and Minne-
sota laws. The settlement is subject to
approval by the trial court.
The exact amount paid to class
members — the workers — will de-
pend on the court’s approval as well
as on the number and amount of
claims submitted by class members,
both sides said in their joint state-
ment.
King will hold a hearing for pre-
liminary approval of the settlement on
Jan. 14, 2009.
(Editor’s Note: Barb Kucera is ed-
itor of Workday Minnesota. This arti-
cle was distributed by Press Associ-
ates Inc.)
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