Golden Corral Agrees to Pay $3.9M for Overtime for Training Settlement

Golden Corral Corporation has recently agreed to settle a wage and hour lawsuit which was filed by workers alleging they were denied overtime for training.

The company agreed to settle the suit for $3.9 million after workers alleged the company violated state and federal labor laws when they denied workers overtime for training.

The proposed class action wage and hour lawsuit states that Golden Corral allegedly failed to pay assistant managers overtime for training and were given lump sums instead.

The settlement is awaiting approval from an Ohio federal judge, stating the agreement will resolve the alleged violations against the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In addition, the claimant is asking for class certification because workers then have the option to choose whether or not to participate, in the event they do not want to release their claims.

This proposed class action wage and hour lawsuit was filed by lead plaintiff Robert S. in January 2017, alleging the company had wrongfully denied him and other workers overtime for training. Workers were instead paid a lump sum of money for each training week, even though trainees often had to work over 40 hours a week.

Overview of Wage and Hour Lawsuit

Under federal labor laws, businesses must pay their non-exempt employees 1.5 times their hourly rate if they work over 40 hours a week or eight hours in a single workday. In addition to federal regulations, each state has its own labor policies that protect employees.

The plaintiff alleges Golden Corral’s practice of not paying their employees overtime for training wrongfully denied their proper compensation for all hours worked. Robert argues this practice violates the FLSA, along with Pennsylvania and Ohio wage and hour laws and eventually forced workers to file legal action.

Golden Corral reportedly has already changed its ways in wake of the claim, paying their managers in training an average of between $628.71 to $5,882 per week. These amounts are determined after administrative costs and fees from the settlement fund are taken into account.

In addition, a collective action settlement would also be quicker to process and would ensure the settlement would go through the litigation process at a faster pace. Workers asked the court to decertify classes of assistant manager trainees from Ohio and Pennsylvania who were allegedly denied overtime for training.

According to the settlement terms, $1.3 million will be awarded to attorney’s fees and expense reimbursement of $32,727, with Robert receiving a participation award of $10,000.

Each Class Member’s award will be calculated based on the number of weeks they were in training in conjunction with the number of weeks spent in training with the entire class. The settlement terms note that any portion of the settlement that remains unclaimed will go back to Golden Corral.

Employees who are considering filing legal action against their employers for wrongful overtime denial or other minimum wage violations should document all instances of missing wages and every attempt they make to resolve it at an administrative level.

Companies who are found to be in violation of the FLSA could face further legal consequences than missing wages depending on the severity of the violations.

This Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 4:17-cv-00136, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

UPDATE: The Golden Corral Associate Manager class action settlement website is now available.  Check out settlement details and get the claim form here.

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