Wage and Hour Lawsuit Filed Against Southwest Airlines

An employee of Southwest Airlines has filed a lawsuit claiming violations of wage and hour laws, specifically related to rest and meal breaks.

The complaint, filed by plaintiff Shantre S. on behalf of herself and other Southwest employees, cites numerous violations of the California Labor Code as well as the state’s Business and Professional Code.

Alleged Break Violations

Shantre says that she and other proposed Class Members the actual number of which is unknown at present) were non-exempt, hourly workers for the defendant between May 1, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2018. During this time, she claims that employees were regularly interrupted during meal breaks and called upon to perform work-related tasks or attend meetings.

The plaintiff further alleges that the defendant failed to schedule enough workers for given shifts. The result was that other employees were forced to “pick up the slack,” having so many tasks to complete that it became difficult to take their rest and meal breaks if they were to have any hope of completing their daily tasks on time.

Shantre also claims that Southwest Airlines operated under a policy of not scheduling meal breaks as part of an employee’s shift. However, she says management never failed to deduct 30 minutes from their paychecks regardless of whether or not they were able to take meal breaks.

The plaintiff registers a similar complaint about rest breaks. While California wage and hour law mandates that all workers be provided with an uninterrupted rest period of no less than 10 minutes for every 4 hours on duty, Shantre says that when she and other workers attempted to go on their breaks, management “sought them out” and had them carry out work-related tasks.

Finally, plaintiff Shantre claims that Southwest Airlines’ policy prohibits employees from leaving the premises during their breaks – maintaining control over their activities even when technically off-duty.

Unpaid Work Time?

Another issue raised in this wage and hour lawsuit is virtual uncompensated work time. This part of the complaint stems from a policy that forces employees to park their vehicles in a designated “employees only” lot and ride a shuttle to get to their work stations. As a result, workers say they are forced to report for duty up to an hour ahead of time in order to clock in on schedule, then wait for up to an hour to be taken back to their vehicles, amounting to unpaid work.

None of this extra time spent on the job was accurately reflected in employees’ wage and hour statements, Shantre claims.

About California Wage and Hour Rules

The California Labor Code mandates that employees receive uninterrupted rest and meal breaks during their shifts. This means that employers cannot legally require their workers to do anything work-related during these periods. There are certain exceptions under which these breaks may be waived, if there is mutual consent between employer and employee. Otherwise, an employer who fails to grant these breaks can be liable for one additional hour’s pay for each workday that breaks were not given.

Shantre’s Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 19-CV-360906, California Superior Court for Santa Clara County.

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