American Cruise Lines Settles Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit

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American Cruise Lines Inc. has reportedly reached a $1 million class action settlement over allegations it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay its stewards minimum wage and overtime pay.

On Monday, the plaintiffs urged a Connecticut federal judge to preliminarily approve their proposed class action settlement and to certify a Class of individuals who worked for American Cruise Lines as stewards or galley stewards during any workweek between May 18, 2012 and Jan. 9, 2016. More than 1,000 stewards are expected to qualify as Class Members of this unpaid overtime settlement.

Plaintiffs Nicole McCormick, Jesus Estrada and Justice Kimmons filed the American Cruise Lines class action lawsuit on May 18, 2015, alleging the river cruise company misclassified its stewards and galley stewards as exempt under the seaman exemption of the FLSA and related state-law exemptions. They claim that American Cruise Lines owes the affected stewards unpaid minimum wages and overtime wages due to this alleged misclassification.

American Cruise Lines sought to have the unpaid overtime class action lawsuit dismissed, but its attempt was unsuccessful. The parties subsequently engaged in mediation and executed the proposed settlement agreement in January.

The plaintiffs urged the judge to preliminarily approve the class action settlement because a trial would “consume tremendous time and resources” for the parties and the court.

“This is because the main overtime exemption issue is the [Connecticut Minimum Wage Act’s] seaman exemption, which would require careful analysis of the job duties of over a thousand employees, many of whom held different job titles, performed different job duties, worked on different cruise ships reporting to different managers, and allegedly worked dozens of unrecorded overtime hours per week,” the plaintiffs argue in their motion urging the judge to approve the class action settlement.

They argue that any judgment would probably be appealed, further extending the burden and expense of the litigation. According to the court documents, the plaintiffs reviewed more than 700 pages of documents as well as a “significant amount of employee data” that was organized in spreadsheets.

“The settlement, on the other hand, makes monetary relief available to Class Members in a prompt and efficient manner,” the plaintiffs argue.

According to the court documents, notice of the American Cruise Lines settlement will be mailed to Class Members’ last known address within seven days of the preliminary approval date.

Instructions on how to file a claim for the American Cruise Lines class action settlement were not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by Bruce E. Newman of Brown Paindiris & Scott LLP and Steven Bennett Blau and Shelly A. Leonard of Blau Leonard Law Group LLC.

The American Cruise Lines Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit is McCormick, et al. v. American Cruise Lines Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-00741, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.