American Airlines Faces Overtime Class Action Lawsuit

A new overtime class action lawsuit seeks unpaid overtime and other wages on behalf of thousands of American Airlines employees.

Plaintiffs Daniel Ferreras and Edwin Gonzalez allege American Airlines failed to pay certain employees for time worked and failed to pay the required increased hourly rate for overtime pay. Both plaintiffs work for American Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The plaintiffs jobs duties include towing airplanes into and out of hangars, providing water and lavatory services, and loading and offloading baggage to and from airplanes. They say American Airlines refers to this job position simply as “clerk” and classifies it as “nonexempt” from federal Fair Labor Standards Act worker protections.

Their overtime class action lawsuit seeks to represent about 5,000 similar American Airlines clerks who work at over 50 other airports in the U.S.

According to Ferreras and Gonzalez, American Airlines sets up its employee time clocks to round down the number of hours worked. They also claim that even if a clerk clocks in early and begins to work, the company refuses to compensate them for any time prior to the shift’s scheduled start time.

Ferreras and Gonzalez also say that supervisors pressure clerks to do uncompensated work when they are off the clock – before and after their scheduled shift time and during uncompensated meal breaks.

The plaintiffs claim the airline allows clerks to trade scheduled shifts with each other, even if some of those trades would result in an employee working hours in excess of 40 in a single work week. However, they say, American Airlines refuses to pay the required higher overtime rate for those overtime hours that resulted from a shift trade.

They also allege that for clerks who work more than 40 hours in a given week, the airline offers to compensate them for those hours in “comp time,” or paid time off to be used later, rather than in overtime pay. The plaintiffs say clerks’ supervisors pressure them to choose comp time over overtime pay, according to the overtime class action lawsuit.

The American Airlines overtime class action lawsuit seeks compensation for unpaid overtime and other wages, punitive damages, and reimbursement of costs and attorneys’ fees.

Overtime Class Action Lawsuit: Federal and State Law

Ferreras and Gonzalez are bringing collective claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and class action claims under New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law.

A collective action is a specific type of lawsuit brought under the FLSA. It’s similar to a class action lawsuit. The main difference is that in a collective action, employees who want to be part of the collective must affirmatively opt in to membership.

In a class action, any person who fits the definition of a class member is included in the class by default; they then have the option to opt out of the class.

Employees who opt in will share in any recovery. Those who do not opt in retain the right to bring their own individual claim based on the same allegations, but such individual efforts are rare. For that reason, employers often fight hard to prevent employees from bringing their claims as a collective action.

The American Airlines Overtime Class Action Lawsuit is Daniel Ferreras et al. v. American Airlines Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv-02427, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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