Flowers Foods Can’t Dodge Wage Theft Class Action, Judge Rules

Flowers Foods Wage Theft Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Six delivery drivers are suing bakery company Flowers Foods.
• Why: The drivers say the company misclassified them as independent contractors, denying them overtime, meal and rest breaks.
• Where: The lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.

Bakery food company Flowers Foods Inc. can’t dodge claims it illegally underpaid bread delivery drivers by denying them overtime, meal and rest breaks, a California federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson filed an order Dec. 3 partially denying Flowers Food’s motion to dismiss claims that it violated the law by misclassifying distributor drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. 

In his order, he shot down the company’s motion to dismiss based on the argument that the drivers would not qualify for overtime pay and breaks even if they had not been misclassified as interstate drivers don’t qualify for those benefits. 

Instead, he said that question of law needed to be determined via further inquiry. He also denied the company’s request for summary judgment. 

Lawsuit Alleges Flowers Foods Drivers Suffered Improper Wage Deductions, As Well

The lawsuit was originally filed in a San Diego County court in Nov. 2017, alleging Flowers Foods drivers suffered improper wage deductions from their paychecks on top of being denied overtime and breaks, because they were misclassified as independent contractors.

The plaintiffs sued the company for failure to compensate for all hours worked, failure to pay overtime premium pay, for charging them waiting-time penalties, failure to provide accurate wage statements, failure to provide meal periods, unlawful deductions from wages and more in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.

Flowers Foods removed the suit to California federal court in September 2020, Law360 reports.

Flowers Foods has also argued that the workers were franchisees and weren’t subject to the ABC test for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee. Under the test, a worker is considered an employee unless a company can demonstrate the worker operates as an independent firm. 

The delivery drivers argue they are not working as independent firms for Flower Foods.

They are seeking to recoup the money they allegedly lost from being misclassified as independent contractors. 

This is not the only class action lawsuit Flowers Foods is facing over wage theft allegations. 

In October, Wonder Bread drivers and parent company Flower Foods Inc called on a Maine federal judge to approve a $9 million settlement in a class action lawsuit accusing the company of labor law violations, including making improper wage deductions.

What do you think of the allegations against Flowers Foods? Let us know in the comments! 

The workers are represented by Craig M. Nicholas, Alex Tomasevic and Shaun Markley of Nicholas & Tomasevic LLP.

The Flowers Foods California Wage Theft Class Action Lawsuit is Goro et al. v. Flowers Foods Inc. et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-02580, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. 

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