Burlington Coat Factory, Workers to Settle for $3M

A popular discount department store chain is positioned to settle claims that it short-changed its hourly workers. 

Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. has agreed to pay $3 million to end a proposed class action lawsuit brought by employees in California who claim the company did not pay them for all hours worked. According to the lawsuit, Burlington Coat Factory required the plaintiffs to work during their meal breaks and then failed to compensate them for doing so.

On Aug. 21, U.S. District Court Judge Jesus G. Bernal of the Central District of California granted preliminary approval of the proposed settlement. A final hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 1.

The settlement will include all current and former hourly employees who were procured as temporary workers by Lyneer Staffing Solutions and who worked one or more shifts per week at one of Burlington’s California distribution centers between Feb. 27, 2014, and August 22, 2020.

Burlington Coat Factory is a national discount retailer that operates 500 stores in 44 states and Puerto Rico.

Settlement Details

Under the terms of the $3 million agreement, $1.9 million will cover plaintiffs’ back wages, and $1.27 million will pay their estimated payroll taxes.

Attorneys representing the workers are to receive $750,000, plus a maximum of $50,000 for expenses. The administrators who notify and screen the Class Members, and distribute the class payments, will receive $45,000.

Burlington Coat Factory will also pay $225,000 to California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency for penalties.

Judge  Questions Proposed Payments

Typically, the lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit also receive additional compensation for their participation in the litigation since they typically expend time and effort assisting with the case. Under the terms of the settlement with Burlington Coat Factory, the two lead plaintiffs are slated to receive $7,500 each, however Judge Bernal questioned that provision in his preliminary approval.

“Plaintiffs provide no concrete information about their role in the mediation, time spent participating in the litigation, or information regarding whether they were guaranteed to receive benefits,” the judge wrote.“The Court therefore finds the requested service awards only potentially reasonable and may not grant them in full should it finally approve the settlement.”

Bernal encouraged the plaintiffs to “provide greater detail” to the court to justify the extra money.

The judge also left open the possibility that he may decrease how much plaintiffs’ lawyers are to be paid in legal expenses, noting that the $50,000 allowance “appears to be on the high end of cost limits allowed in similar class actions.”

Claims Against Burlington Coat Factory

The class action lawsuit against Burlington Coat Factory was filed in 2018 by two workers at a company distribution center, a warehouse where inventory is received and stored before being sent to stores.

In the lawsuit, the hourly workers accused the company of failing to pay all of their straight wages, refusing to pay overtime wages, denying meal breaks, or failing to compensate them for those denied breaks, and denying rest breaks as required by state labor laws.

The workers also claimed that Burlington Coat Factory provided incomplete wage statements and failed to pay what was owed when the workers left the company, among other alleged labor and wage violations.

Although the settlement’s final approval won’t come before the March 1 hearing, the judge indicated he is in favor of the agreement overall.

The Burlington Coat Factory Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-00666 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now