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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
“…members will receive either $20 or $30 per shift, depending on the time period when they worked for the company.”
I think the journalist has it wrong.
On the settlement letter I received it clearly says
pre-Busk will receive $20 per shift
post-Busk will receive a payment of $30
I’m post-Busk and I received a W-2 for $25.98
I just received the check today for $25.98, I tried calling the attorney office and left several messages and no one got back to me. I also had a friend who told me not to cash the check.
They sent a w2. Attached and my wage per hour was wrong . anyone else get one ?
I just got this bs $25.98 check to and I worked for SMX for 7 months. This is so wrong.
Got mine in Phoenix today and it was a smidge under $500.
I worked for Smx both pre, and post, Busk.
Good luck to everyone.
Here is the nitty gritty of the Settlement reversal.
Those of us that are post Busk are in trouble.
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a lawsuit by Amazon.com AMZN +3.07% workers seeking wages for time they spend being screened for stolen goods, saying Congress had specifically protected employers against such lawsuits under a 1947 law.
The court, in Integrity Staffing Solutions vs. Busk, rejected the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had allowed the workers to sue under the theory that since their screening time was required by the employer, it should be compensated.
I was told by a friend in law don’t cash it then you accept the offer did anyone get ahold of a lawyer to see what our options are? I got myour check today for 26 dollars I should of got 4000 or more my friends did too
DD I was supposed to get 15.000 I’m not cashing it I’ve left different comments on here about contacting N.B.C.
Mine was$ 25.98
Ok please let me know what they say…
I’m on Facebook if anyone wants to keep in touch also everyone should get in touch with N.B.C. their number 818-520-tips leave a message regarding the smx lawsuit attorneys misleading article the more of us there is they will do something about it
As it states in this article it states the same information on the original documents that we all signed. “Working since October 2012- present is to receive a $20/$30 per shift.”
Sounds like another law suit!!
I agree something needs to be done!!!
I worked there for a short time . I got $25.98
Something went wrong or they got us!, my understanding was 30 dollars per shift… They made 3.8 million
The attorneys are mark r thierman and Joshua buck their number is 775-284-1500 and if anyone noticed the checks on top say Saldana he is one of the plaintiffs so I wonder if he is in charge of who gets what
Did u save a copy ofthe documents they send us
Yes I did Jasmin this is all wrong it was all misleading and we should all get together and file a lawsuit against the law firm
I agree I spoke with the assistant of Thierman law offices she try to tell me it says 20 dollars per shift for prebusk and $30.00 period for post busk this is incorrect! I know I did not read wrong what attorney can we contact to help us or what do we do
I’ll find out Jasmin I’m waiting for N.B.C. investigate to call me back