Costco Pay Came Late, Violating State Law, Class Action Alleges

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Costco Pay Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: New York workers hit the retail giant with a class action lawsuit. 
• Why: The workers claim Costco failed to pay them ontime in violation of New York state law.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was lodged in New York federal court. 

Retail giant Costco failed to pay its manual workers within the seven calendar days required by law resulting in underpayment at the time wages were due, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit was filed in New York on August 26 by lead Plaintiff Geeta Umadat who alleges that the company violated New York State Labor Law by compensating her, and all other manual workers, on a bi-weekly basis rather than the weekly basis required by law. She is seeking statutory damages for the alleged violation.

“In this regard, Defendant failed to provide timely wages to Plaintiff and all other similarly situated manual workers in violation of New York Labor Law,” the class action reads.

Costco Pay Came Late for Manual Workers

Costco operates around 19 warehouses and stores throughout New York State and hires non-exempt hourly-paid manual workers including cashiers, cashier assistants, stockers, food service assistants, bakery wrappers, service deli assistants, bakers, cake decorators, forklift drivers, meat cutters, receiving clerks, tire installers, sanitation assistants, and maintenance workers.

Umadat was employed by the company as a non-exempt hourly-paid worker in the merchandising department from 1999 to July 12, 2021, where she was generally responsible for sorting, folding, arranging and displaying merchandise.

The claim states that during her employment, over twenty-five percent of Umadat’s duties required physical tasks, including bending, lifting, folding, walking, carrying, and standing for long periods of time – meaning she was a manual worker.

By law, employers are required to pay manual workers employed in the State of New York “on a weekly basis and not later than seven calendar days after the end of the week in which the wages are earned.”

However, Umadat alleges that Costco paid them on a bi-weekly or semi-monthly basis pursuant to its payroll policy.

She wants to represent other New York Costco employees in the suit that is suing for violations of New York State Labor Law. She seeks certification of the Class, damages, legal fees and costs, and interest.

Costco pay and other alleged labor law violations have landed the warehouse store in court before. A former bakery manager lodged a class action lawsuit against Costco in 2012 claiming paycheck violations on her electronic wage statements. Beloved Costco sample servers also accused the company of misclassifying them as independent contractors when they should have been classified as employees.

Tell us if you’ve ever worked for Costco or another employer that has failed to pay you on time in the comments section below!

The lead plaintiff is represented by Peter A. Romero of the Law Office of Peter A. Romero PLLC.

The Costco Pay Violations Class Action Lawsuit is Umadat v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Case No. 2:21-cv-04814-JS-JMW in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York.

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