Urban Outfitters Misclassification Lawsuit Alleges California Labor Law Violations

An Urban Outfitters misclassification lawsuit has been filed against the clothing retail company by a California man alleging he was wrongfully categorized as exempt from overtime benefits.

The man claims he filed the Urban Outfitters misclassification lawsuit after the company wrongfully categorized him as exempt and did not pay him any overtime pay rates for his work.

Plaintiff Adam F. files this Urban Outfitters misclassification lawsuit, alleging the company violated California labor laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by wrongfully misclassifying him to avoid paying overtime rates.

Adam claims that as a direct result of the wrongful misclassification, he was denied full compensation for all hours worked and was not provided other benefits guaranteed by minimum wage benefits.

According to the Urban Outfitters misclassification lawsuit, Adam had worked for the clothing company as a Department Manager (DM) from July 2011 through January 2014. During this time, Adam had regularly worked over 40 hours a week and over eight hours a day but did not receive any overtime, he claims.

Overview of Urban Misclassification Lawsuit

Failure to pay proper overtime directly violates California labor laws, which require that employers pay nonexempt employees one and a half times their hourly rate if they work over 40 hours per week or eight hours in a single workday. The overtime rate must be doubled if the employee works over 12 hours in a single workday, and for all hours worked if each shift is over eight hours for seven consecutive work days in a single week.

There are several circumstances in which employers can classify their workers as exempt from overtime, such as earning an annual salary of a certain amount or having a management title.

In order to be considered a manager or any other kind of higher employment status, the employee must have some kind of administrative authority over other employees. This includes hiring and firing other employees as well as supervising shifts.

Adam reportedly had none of these duties, with his occupational duties often composed of cleaning the store, folding clothes, building displays, and unloading freight loads. In addition, there was a Store Manager on each shift that had direct authority over him during these times.

According to Urban Outfitters, Store Managers are “responsible for overseeing the daily operations of” their respective store. Under these circumstances, Adam states he qualifies as a typical nonexempt employee and is therefore eligible for overtime benefits and minimum wage protections.

Adam alleges that not only did he regularly work over 40 hours a week, he often was forced to work five or more shifts a week and sometimes included holidays like Thanksgiving.

Adam points out that the number of hours he worked would be reflected in the company’s records, with the company also being accused of failing to notice the number of hours worked. Adam alleges Urban Outfitters purposefully and wrongfully misclassified him as exempt from minimum wage benefits in order to cut down on labor costs.

Adam is filing this Urban Outfitters misclassification lawsuit seeking compensation for all missing wages, and is seeking correction of company policy of they classify employees.

This Urban Outfitters Misclassification Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-00055, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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