FedEx, Walmart, others face employment-related class actions

Employment class action lawsuits overview: 

• Who: Employees recently filed class action lawsuits against FedEx, Red Lobster, JPMorgan Chase and Subway. Walmart also recently agreed to a class action settlement. 
• Why: The class action lawsuits and settlement involved employment-related claims.
• Where: The class action lawsuits were filed in U.S. federal courts. 

Employees recently filed class action lawsuits against FedEx, Red Lobster, JPMorgan Chase and Subway. 

The class action lawsuits allege improper pay and failure to provide lawfully required meal and rest breaks. 

A federal judge also recently gave the green light to a class action settlement ending claims Walmart failed to compensate workers for time spent doing pre-shift COVID-19 screenings. 

FedEx failed to pay drivers all overtime owed, class action says

Employees recently filed multiple class action lawsuits against FedEx over claims the company failed to pay its drivers all of the overtime they were owed. 

The class action lawsuits claim FedEx classified its drivers as independent contractors and thus denied them the proper overtime pay.

The FedEx drivers argue they should have been classified as employees because they worked full-time for the company while wearing FedEx uniforms and delivering FedEx packages in vehicle’s bearing the FedEx logo. 

Drivers argue FedEx also controlled their package delivery volume and maintained control over the way they worked. 

Class action claims Red Lobster paid tipped workers below legal minimum wage

A former Red Lobster employee filed a class action lawsuit against the restaurant in July over claims it paid its tipped workers below the legal minimum wage. 

The class action lawsuit argues Red Lobster asked the tipped workers to perform untipped duties, making it so their take-home pay ended up below the legal minimum wage. 

The former employee further claims Red Lobster incentivized managers at the restaurant to keep tipped employees’ wages low due to bonuses based on meeting or exceeding certain labor cost targets. 

“Defendant knew or should have known that its policies and practices violate the law, and defendant has not made a good faith effort to comply with the (Fair Labor Standards Act),” the Red Lobster class action says.

JPMorgan Chase failed to provide employees with meal, rest breaks, class action says

A former JPMorgan Chase employee filed a class action lawsuit against the bank last month claiming it violated labor laws by failing to provide its employees with lawfully required meal and rest breaks. 

The class action lawsuit argues Chase regularly assigned the former employee too much work and had her routinely work longer hours and through her lunch breaks without pay. 

The former employee argues Chase also failed to reimburse its employees for all their business expenses, provide them with accurate written wage statements or pay them all of their required wages upon their termination in violation of California labor law. 

Subway failed to pay non-exempt employees proper minimum wage, overtime, class action claims 

A former employee filed a class action lawsuit against Subway in July over claims the restaurant failed to pay proper minimum wage and overtime pay to non-exempt employees who worked more than 40 hours during a work week.

The class action lawsuit argues Subway was required but failed to pay non-exempt employees wages at a rate of one-half times their regular rate for every hour worked in excess of 40 hours per week. 

“As a result of these practices, plaintiff is owed lost wages and liquidated damages as a result of not being paid overtime,” the Subway class action says.

Walmart resolves claims it failed to comp workers for COVID-19 screenings 

A federal judge in Arizona granted final approval of a class action settlement resolving claims Walmart failed to compensate its employees for their time spent waiting for COVID-19 screenings prior to the start of their shifts. 

The judge determined the settlement was a “substantial” amount of recovery for class members. 

“Walmart does not pay these employees for the time that the company requires of them,” the Walmart class action lawsuit says. “As a result, Walmart is unjustly enriched at the expense of its workers.”

Per the settlement, class members will be entitled to a payment of approximately 50% of their potential claim with the amount determined by the length of time they were employed at an Walmart location in Arizona between April 10, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2022. 

Have you been injured by a current or past employer? Let us know in the comments.

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