Kim Gale  |  March 2, 2020

Category: Labor & Employment

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A male cashier greets customers at the retail outlet's check-out lane.Outdoor outfitter REI has reached a $5 million class action settlement with employees who alleged the retailer violated California work laws.

Lead plaintiff Martha Reilly filed the lawsuit in October 2018. She had worked at an REI retail store in Berkeley, Calif. from 2007 to 2018, during which time she alleges she and other employees were forced to undergo security checks before their breaks and after their shifts ended. These required security checks were performed on a regular basis, but employees allegedly were not compensated for their time spent going through the checks.

The lawsuit also alleges another aspect to the wage and hour claim, saying REI did not provide Reilly or other employees with correct itemized wage statements. Reilly claimed her overtime rate was listed as 0.5 times the base rate of pay instead of the correct figure of 1.5 times the base rate of pay. She also alleged that because of the incorrect overtime rate, the total hours listed on her wage statements were incorrect.

REI denies any wrongdoing, but agreed to settle the lawsuit.

Based on the approximate 7,065 class members, each participating class member will receive about $446. Reilly could receive a maximum of $10,000 for bringing forth the action.

Class members won’t need to submit a form to receive their share of the settlement fund. Each class member should automatically receive a check as long as the class member does not opt-out. REI’s payroll records will be used to distribute the money.

California Work Laws Protect Employees’ Rights

The state of California enforces an extensive code of labor laws to protect employees from being skirted out of money owed to them.

If an employee works for more than five hours per day, the employee must be provided with a meal period of at least 30 minutes. If the total work day will be no more than six hours, the employee may skip the meal period as long as both the employee and employer agree to make that exception.

A second meal period must be provided if an employee works more than 10 hours per day.

The REI class action lawsuit alleged the plaintiffs were due unpaid wages plus meal and rest period premium pay because of the time the employees spent going through security checks while off-the-clock.

According to California work laws, an employer who fails to provide a meal period is required to pay one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for each workday a meal period was not provided.

California workers have benefited from many class action settlements with both small and large employers.

In November, McDonald’s agreed to a $26 million class action settlement to resolve allegations the company failed to properly pay California cashiers and cooks. The lawsuit also alleged workers were denied timely breaks because of restaurant traffic flow that prevented them from going on break at any time other than the beginning or ending of their shifts. [https://www.npr.org/2019/11/25/782580843/mcdonalds-agrees-to-pay-26-million-to-settle-accusations-of-wage-theft]

Like REI, McDonald’s denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to the class action settlement terms.

The REI California Work Laws Lawsuit is Martha Reilly v. Recreational Equipment, Inc., Case No. 3:18-cv-07385-LB, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern 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.

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