Walmart Assistant Manager Overtime Pay Lawsuit Dropped

An assistant manager overtime pay lawsuit against retail giant Walmart was reportedly dropped by the plaintiffs after confidential settlements were reached.

The group of former assistant managers for Walmart that had brought the suit was denied conditional class action certification by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Hornack back in June 2018 because the judge reportedly found that the individual plaintiffs involved in the overtime pay lawsuit had too many varying experiences with the retailer for this type of legal action to be practical.

The plaintiffs requested a reconsideration of this denial and asked that only 113 plaintiffs that had at that point expressed an interest in being part of the lawsuit be reviewed. According to Law360, Walmart had previously tried this tack, but the ex-assistant managers had vehemently denied the retailer’s right to do so. The attempt by the plaintiffs to switch back and desire this reconsideration on those terms earned a rebuke by Judge Hornack.

History of the Lawsuit

The lawsuit was originally filed in August 2013 by plaintiff Andrew Swank in Pennsylvania state court. The complainant alleged violations of state law and wished to be a class representative for similarly situated current and former Walmart assistant managers in that state.

A different legal claim was reportedly filed by James Paolicelli at the federal court level. Paolicelli accused Walmart of being in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and sought to bring a collective action against the big box store. The two Walmart overtime pay class action lawsuits were merged in May 2015.

The Plaintiff Allegations

The assistant manager overtime pay lawsuit claimed that the third tier of management at which they were classified under store managers and comanagers, engaged in many of the same activities of regular sales floor staff, often working in excess of 60 hours per week without the benefit of receiving overtime pay. By giving them the title of manager and classifying them as overtime-exempt under the executive exemption, they were denied this benefit.

According to Shrm.org, using the executive exemption to classify an assistant manager is problematic because often this role performs both exempt and nonexempt tasks. They can run cash registers, stock shelves, and do checks on prices while also hiring and firing or disciplining employees.

In this legal case, the former assistant managers claimed they didn’t have the authority to discipline or hire and fire employees. This authority, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, is one of the key attributes in determining whether a position can be given an executive exemption. In the absence of this, their opinions must be given significant weight, otherwise, the employer may be engaging in employee misclassification.

Walmart Responds

Through one of its spokespersons, Walmart continued to deny that its assistant manager overtime pay policy was not in compliance with its employee classification under the FLSA and Pennsylvania state statutes. Nevertheless, that same spokesperson indicated that they were motivated to resolve the situation with some of the major complainants in the interest of the company.

Swank, Paolicelli, and Sean McCracken along with seven other plaintiffs from related cases against Walmart reported to the court on Nov. 15, 2019 that they had reached settlements with Walmart which shall remain secret. A few days later on Nov. 29, the official cases were officially dismissed with prejudice.

Join a Free Assistant Manager Overtime Pay Lawsuit Investigation

If you work or worked as an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant, retail store or supermarket and you perform the same duties as the hourly employees, you may have been misclassified as exempt and are owed unpaid overtime pay.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.