Dollar Express Failed to Pay Overtime, Class Action Says

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Discount store chain owner Dollar Express Stores LLC has been accused of misclassifying employees and failing to pay them overtime in violation of federal law, according to a class action filed on Mar. 4.

In the Dollar Express unpaid overtime class action lawsuit, plaintiff Aniko Steingruber claims that although her job title is “store manager,” she “has regularly performed a majority of her work time on non-exempt tasks such as stocking shelves, operating cash registers and cleaning/maintaining the store and its surrounding parking lot.” In addition, Steingruber alleges that she has “consistently worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week” and Dollar Express has refused to pay her overtime.

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees are entitled to be paid extra for overtime, that is, for hours worked over 40 hours per week. A court will decide whether or not an employee is “exempt” from the standard overtime requirement under the FLSA typically by looking at how much that employee is paid, whether that person’s pay is hourly or based on a salary, and what kind of job duties the employee regularly performs. Duties involving supervising or management are more likely to be performed by exempt employees.

Steingruber states that she worked at the Family Dollar in Jacksonville, Florida from October of 2008 to Nov. 1, 2015. In February of 2015, Steingruber filed a class action lawsuit against Family Dollar for these same claims; she alleged that Family Dollar was refusing to pay her overtime wages in violation of the FLSA. That complaint was dismissed by the court, because of an arbitration agreement between Steingruber and Family Dollar. That claim is currently being arbitrated, according to this new class action.

In November 2015, Dollar Express took over approximately 330 stores from the now-defunct Family Dollar discount store chain. Steingruber continued to work at the store in the same capacity as before, only now for Dollar Express. The class action complaint alleges that Dollar Express continued the same practice of refusing to pay her overtime.

The Dollar Express unpaid overtime class action asserts that “Dollar Express knew about Mrs. Steingruber’s claim against her former employer, Family Dollar, and therefore knew that Mrs. Steingruber was improperly classified as an exempt employee.”  However, “Dollar Express continued Family Dollar’s illegal practices and failed to pay Mrs. Steingruber, and all similarly situated employees, in compliance with the FLSA,” according to the class action complaint.

Steingruber seeks to represent a Class of all other “similarly situated” Dollar Express employees who were not paid extra wages for overtime work. The class action lawsuit is requesting “liquidated damages” under the FLSA, which is double the amount of unpaid back wages.

The plaintiff is represented by Mark G. Alexander and Kelly L. DeGance of Alexander DeGance Barnett; and Scott Thomas Fortune of Fortune Law Offices, P.A.

The Dollar Express Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit is Aniko Steingruber v. Dollar Express Stores LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-00213, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville District.