Sarah Mirando  |  April 29, 2013

Category: Legal News

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest Class Action Lawsuit Settlement News!

 

Aeropostale Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Certified

By Mike Holter

 

Aeropostale Aeropostale store workers won class certification last week in a wage and hour class action lawsuit accusing the clothing retailing over failing to pay overtime to thousands of store employees in a timely manner.

Lead plaintiff Portia Daniels sued Aeropostale Inc. last November, claiming that Aeropostale had under-paid overtime to non-exempt store employees by failing to include earned bonus amounts in their regular rate of pay.


Daniels alleges in the class action lawsuit that within the last three years of her employment as a non-exempt store manager for Aeropostale, that she consistently worked over 40 hours per week without getting paid the appropriate overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). She also claims she received several non-discretionary bonuses that were not included in her regular rate of pay when she worked overtime, in violation of the FLSA.

Daniels’ case is based on a letter Aeropostale sent to its employees in March 2012 referencing a 2011 class action lawsuit known as Sankey v. Aeropostale that accused the clothing company of failing to include bonus payments in the regular rate of pay for overtime hours California managers worked between March 2007 to the present. In that letter, Aeropostale said it had found overtime was potentially under-calculated at times, and enclosed a check for the amount of the under-payment.

In her class action lawsuit, Daniels references statements from Aeropostale’s payroll director during deposition in the Sankey case that she says showed the company had a uniform practice of under-calculating overtime, affecting thousands of employees across the country.

Aeropostale argued that the payroll director’s testimony was specific to the Sankey case and only to California store managers.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup disagreed, however, and conditionally certified a class of all current and former non-exempt Aeropostale employees nationwide who had worked overtime since November 2009 and received a non-discretionary bonus.

Judge Alsup noted in his certification order that the key issue in Daniel’s case is not whether Aeropostale failed to pay overtime, “but whether they failed to pay in a timely manner.”

“Potential plaintiffs may have been under-compensated as early as November 2009 but failed to receive their corresponding overtime adjustment until 2011 or later, when defendants discovered the error during the Sankey litigation,” Judge Alsup said in the order.

The Aeropostale Overtime Class Action Lawsuit case is Daniels v. Aeropostale Inc., Case No. 12-cv-05755, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Failing to pay overtime at all or in a timely manner is against the law. If believe your current or former employee owes you unpaid overtime, visit the Wage & Hour, Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation to see if you have a case. You can receive a free legal review of your claims from an experienced wage and hour attorney actively looking to help employees like you get the money you deserve.


We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.

 

Updated April 29th, 2013

 

All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions

LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2013 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners

One thought on Aeropostale Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Certified

  1. Jennifer Barbachano says:

    I was an Aeropostale California employee for 8 years, my peers got the settlement how do I find out if I get it as well?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. Required fields are marked *

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.