Zales Wage and Hour Settlement for $1.8M Reached in California

A Class of 2,500 Zales Delaware Inc. employees has reached a settlement with the jeweler over allegations that they were not paid their full wages due to a company policy regarding time-rounding. The jeweler has agreed to pay $1.8 million to resolve claims in the Zales wage and hour settlement.

Lead Plaintiff Naomi Tapia, a “jewelry consultant” who previously worked for the company is representing the Class of employees who allege that sales has trimmed off minutes of employee timecards, which in turn led to them being shorted pay and overtime compensation, violating California labor laws.

The lawsuit was originally filed in July 2013 and also includes claims that Zales did not provide proper meal and rest breaks.

“After approximately 3 and one half years of litigation, including motions for summary judgment and adjudication, exchanges and analyses of vast amounts of data and mediation before a highly-experienced mediator… The parties reached a comprehensive stipulation and settlement of class action,” the preliminary approval motion for the Zales wage and hour settlement reads.

The Zales wage and hour settlement includes a Class of non-exempt employees and California worked at sales during the four years preceding the lawsuit. Of the $1.8 million settlement, $504,000 will be allocated to class counsel and Tapia is allocated $10,000 as class representative.

Each Class Member will receive approximately $500 as part of the settlement based on the number of weeks they spent working for the company.

Prior to the Zales wage and hour settlement, this past July, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant denied a motion made by sales to decertify the class based on its overtime claims.

She found that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Corbin v. Time Warner Entertainment to have no bearing on the class certification that was approved in April. The ruling determined that as long as the company did so neutrally, their time clock system rounded to the nearest 5 to 15 minutes.

The judge stated that the exact time-keeping technique that Zales used was not clear, and even if it was the same type of system as that used by Time Warner Entertainment, it represented a separate issue of liability that was not linked to the existence of the class.

She also stated that a ruling in 2014 by the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the merits of the case should not be found during the class certification stage, but rather during the trial itself.

“The court examined the [class certification] factors, including whether the lawsuit raised common questions of fact or law,” Judge Besant wrote.

“Defendant’s insistent that it is not viable because of its allegedly neutral rounding procedure is itself a common question that can be resolved for all employees in one action.” Zales’ motion to decertify did not address any issues raised regarding meal and rest issues.

The Zales Wage and Hour Settlement is Naomi Tapia v. Zale Delaware Inc. et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-01565, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: The Zales Wage & Hour Class Action Settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

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