Albertsons Hit with Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit

A Florida man has filed a wage and hour lawsuit has against Albertsons LLC, alleging the grocery store chain failed to pay him overtime wages. He is seeking class certification for other Albertsons employees who claim they were also denied overtime pay and forced to work off the clock.

Plaintiff Jamie Cook began working for Albertsons in April 1998 as an Assistant Manager, who was paid by the hour, until June 2012. Cooks says in the proposed class action lawsuit that he often worked more than 40 hours a week. He and the other Albertsons employees were required to take a 30-minute lunch break during their shift, in which they were required to clock out. However, according to Cook, he and the other employees were required to work through their lunch shifts regularly. Cook claims that this wasn’t just the case for managers; other hourly paid employees were also forced to work during their lunch breaks. 

Cook is arguing that he and the other Albertsons employees should be paid overtime wages of time-and-a-half their hourly wage for the times they spent working through their lunches off-the-clock, according to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

The FLSA became law in 1938 under President Franklin Roosevelt. 

“An employer who requires or permits an employee to work overtime is generally required to pay the employee premium pay for such overtime work,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. “Employees covered by the FLSA must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay.”

Cook further claims that Albertsons has not kept accurate records of the hours worked by its employees, also in violation of FLSA regulations. 

The FLSA does not require employers to pay for breaks that last at least 30 minutes, but employees should be compensated for breaks that are less than 20 minutes. However, federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks, but individual states have their own laws concerning such things. 

According to Florida law, where Cook resides and worked for the grocery store chain, employers are only required to give lunch breaks to employees who are under age 18.  However, Florida law does state that if a 30-minute meal is granted, employers are supposed to allow employees to use the time as they wish, not according to the employer’s desire. If an employer makes an employee work during a break, then he or she should be compensated for that time, and it should not happen off the clock. 

The class action lawsuit is charging Albertsons for failing to pay overtime wages, saying that it wasn’t mere oversight on the part of the grocery store, but “uniform policy.” The employees who were not paid for this overtime work have suffered harm by Albertsons, the class action lawsuit says. Cook is asking that Albertsons pay himself, and other employees who decide to join his lawsuit, the unpaid overtime wages.  

The Albertsons Overtime Class Action Lawsuit is Cook v. Albertson’s LLC, Case No. 8:13-cv-02300, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

If you are owed unpaid overtime or unpaid wages, legal options are available to you. Learn more and get a free legal consultation regarding your claim’s eligibility at the Wage & Hour Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Experienced legal professionals are able to determine if you have a case. You could receive back pay as well as penalties, so act now.