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Rite Aid employees are pushing forward with a class action lawsuit alleging the company forced them to buy their own work uniforms without reimbursement in violation of California law.
In a motion filed Tuesday in a California federal court, the Class of about 26,000 Rite Aid workers argued for a ruling that would make the company pay them damages for having them buy uniforms at their own expense.
Speaking with Law360, Randall Aiman-Smith — a lawyer for the Class — quoted comedian Chris Rock to make his point about the company’s requirement that employees wear “Team Colors,” but don’t pay them to do so.
“Their entire Team Colors approach is based on the idea that they want their stores to have a certain look. And you, the employee, are making minimum wage,” he said.
“Chris Rock, in one of my favorite observations, said, ‘You know what minimum wage means? It means we’d pay you less, but it’s against the law.’ So, we’re paying you as little as the law permits, and now we’re going to take some of that away by making you pay to work here. You can’t do that.”
Rite Aid workers filed the class action lawsuit in March 2019, saying the company violated California law by not reimbursing workers for the uniforms they had to buy. Rite Aid has a policy where workers must wear navy blue tops and khaki bottoms in certain styles.
Rite Aid hit back, saying its store-issued vests were also an option, therefore it was a worker’s personal choice if they bought a uniform. It said the Class should be decertified, Law360 reported.
However, the workers argued it didn’t matter if a store-issued vest was an option because, in 71.5 percent of the stores, there were no vests available.
Aiman-Smith told Law360 that Rite Aid’s policy was clear.
“The reality is that their own written policy says in innumerable places, ‘If you are unable to come to work in Team Colors, you may wear a Rite Aid provided vest,'” he said.
“It doesn’t say, ‘You know what? We don’t care. Wear the team colors or wear our vest — up to you.’ They don’t say that. They don’t say it anywhere.”
California employees who have been required by their employer to purchase necessary tools or items in order to complete the tasks of their jobs may qualify for reimbursement, regardless of how much time has passed.
The California Labor Code Section 2802 states: “An employer shall indemnify (i.e. reimburse) his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer.”
Employees who are required or expected to use their personal property for their work, including computers, cell phones, and tools, may be able to recoup these expenses from their employer. Click here for more information.
Have you had to pay uniform expenses out of pocket at a job? Let us know your experience in the comments!
The employees are represented by Randall B. Aiman-Smith, Reed W.L. Marcy, Hallie Von Rock and Brent A. Robinson of Aiman-Smith & Marcy PC.
The Rite Aid Uniform Class Action Lawsuit is Nucci et al. v. Rite Aid Corp. et al., Case No. 5:19-cv-01434, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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