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On Tuesday, three lead plaintiffs in an Amazon.com Inc. class action lawsuit alleging wage and hour violations asked a U.S. District Court judge to approve a $3.7 million settlement with SMX LLC, the temporary staffing agency used to fill Amazon warehouse positions.
Lead plaintiffs David C. Saldana, Ladaisja Brewster and Monica Carlin had all worked as packers in Amazon’s San Bernardino, California warehouse facility. They filed the wage and hour class action lawsuit against Amazon and SMX in 2013.
The former workers allege that non-exempt workers at Amazon warehouses classified as “pickers” and “packers” were required to participate in mandatory security searches onsite after they clocked out for meal periods and at the end of their shifts. The plaintiffs allege that each of the mandatory individual security searches resulted in 20 to 30 minutes or more of unpaid work daily.
This time spent unpaid in security screenings allegedly resulted in “a daily underpayment for all time worked, daily interruptions in employee meal and rest periods, failure to provide correctly itemized and accurate wage statements showing all hours actually caused or suffered to work, and a failure to pay all wages owed at separation to separated employees.”
The claims in this class action lawsuit are a part of ongoing multidistrict litigation (MDL) against Amazon and other contractors like SMX who provided staffing or warehouse space for the online retailer. Initially, the class action lawsuits in the MDL alleged violations against the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) as well as state laws. However, last December, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that time spent participating in security checks was not compensable under FLSA.
Amazon has also attempted to dismiss some of the lawsuits in the MDL, stating that in certain states such as Arizona and Nevada, security screening time was not compensable time under current wage and hour laws.
The proposed settlement Class includes all employees hired by SMX to work at California Amazon warehouses from Oct. 1, 2012 until the present. The $3.7 million settlement will be used to compensate more than 33,000 affected members in the settlement Class, and members will receive either $20 or $30 per shift, depending on the time period when they worked for the company.
“The settlement before this court came only after the case was fully investigated by counsel,” the plaintiffs say in support of the proposed Amazon class action settlement. “This litigation, therefore, has reached the stage where the parties have a clear view of the strengths and weaknesses of their cases sufficient to support the settlement.”
Amazon and SMX have denied any wrongdoing in the settlement and agreed upon a settlement through mediation “to avoid the expense, distraction, and uncertainty of protracted litigation.”
The California plaintiffs are represented by Mark R. Thierman and Joshua D. Buck of Thierman Buck LLP, Isam C. Khoury, Diana M. Khoury and Jason J. Hill of Cohelan Khoury & Singer, David R. Markman of The Markman Law Firm, Christopher J. Hamner of Hamner Law Offices APC and Walter L. Haines of United Employees Law Group PC.
The Amazon Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Amazon.com Inc. Fulfillment Center Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Wage and Hour Litigation, Case No. 3:14-md-02504, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
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116 thoughts onAmazon Warehouse Workers Seek $3.8M Wage and Hour Settlement Approval
Has anyone received their reimbursement went
Not yet still waiting
Checks got mailed out today!
Yes! I received that information as well!
Where did you get this information from?
the information is from Simpluris, they are the company that is handling the settlement disbursement.
Can y’all let me know when you receive it and what the envelope looks like? I’m currently visiting family out of state and will probably have a friend pick it up for me whenever it arrives. Thanks so much!
The checks were mailed from Costa Mesa, Ca. I estimate that they will be here on Tuesday, since Monday there is no mail delivery. I will post when I receive it.
Oh great! Thank you very much!
I called the first week of December and was told the checks would be coming in January. But they also said that could change. Of course they couldn’t get the checks out in time for Christmas.
Has anyone else called and got a different answer as for when they will be mailing out the disbursement?
I worked 3 months do you know approximately how much
Does anyone no an estimate on how much the checks will be for
Depends on how long each individual worked there. So it will vary.
Now they are saying disbursement isn’t until January!!! Ridiculous. Smh.
What number did you call?
888-369-3780
Any updates on the disbursement date yet?
Does anyone know when the checks are being mailed out?
The settlement received final approval from the court on October 31, 2016. There is a 30 day period in which appeals can be filed. Claims are usually not paid until after this period expires. You can also contact the settlement administrator with any questions about your claim: http://www.simpluris.net/pages/member-claim-request.aspx. Please let us know when you receive your check!
Any updates when checks will be sent?
I called the number and they told me not till January!!
Any update?
Any update on mailing date for checks?
The settlement received final approval from the court on October 31, 2016. There is a 30 day period in which appeals can be filed. Claims are usually not paid until after this period expires. You can also contact the settlement administrator with any questions about your claim: http://www.simpluris.net/pages/member-claim-request.aspx. Please let us know when you receive your check!