Buffalo Wild Wings Faces New Non-Exempt Employee Lawsuit

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. is facing a non-exempt employee lawsuit from a California resident seeking to represent himself and other workers similarly situated.

Also naming parent company Blazin Wings Inc. as a defendant, the non-exempt employee lawsuit alleges the companies wrongfully misclassified store managers as exempt from minimum wage requirements and other employee protections. This allegedly caused the plaintiff and other employees to be denied their full wages and to receive no overtime benefits.

The non-exempt employee lawsuit is being filed by plaintiff Heath H., who is seeking class action status for his claim to represent himself and other employees. More specifically, Heath and other “non-exempt hourly store managers” were allegedly not paid their overtime wages despite regularly working over 40 hours a week.

Heath claims the restaurant companies violated state and federal labor laws by wrongfully misclassifying him and other employees as exempt, when they work as typical non-exempt employees would.

To be considered a non-exempt employee in the state of California, the employee must earn over twice the minimum wage rate in a monthly salary and must have more authoritative duties than typical minimum wage employees.

Overview of Non-Exempt Employee Lawsuit

According to the non-exempt employee lawsuit, Buffalo Wild Wings had systematically and intentionally deprived Heath and other employees of their overtime wages and they were not given quarterly bonuses. Heath is filing this non-exempt employee lawsuit, seeking damages for all missed wages and any additional interest.

Under federal labor laws, Buffalo Wild Wings is required to pay their non-exempt employees one and a half times the regular minimum wage rate if the employees work over 40 hours per week or more than eight hours in a single day.

In addition, the company must pay twice the regular pay rate if the employee works over 12 hours per day or if the employee works over eight hours a day for seven work days in a row. Buffalo Wild Wings must adhere to strict employment regulations set by California labor laws, which is considered one of the most progressive states in employment laws.

At this point in time, the hourly minimum rate in California is $10.50 and is set to eventually reach $15 by 2021. This means Heath and other non-exempt employees may have been entitled to $10.50 per hour, plus an additional $5.25 per hour once they surpassed the overtime limit.

Buffalo Wild Wings allegedly failed to keep track of the hours the employees worked and failed to correctly calculate the amount of money owed to the employees, according to Heath’s complaint.

In addition to paying overtime wages when they are owed, employers are also required to keep accurate pay records of employees and provide them if asked. Buffalo Wild Wings and Blazin Wings Inc. allegedly failed to do this, which ultimately deprived Heath and fellow non-exempt employees of the full extent of their wages.

Heath is filing this non-exempt employee lawsuit seeking compensation for all missing wages. He is seeking class action status for his the non-exempt employee lawsuit so that other employees can be included.

This Non-Exempt Employee Lawsuit is Case No. 5:17-cv-01898, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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