California Sam’s Club Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Labor Violations

A former Sam’s Club cashier has come forward with a California Sam’s Club class action lawsuit against the retail warehouse club, alleging that the company violated a number of state labor laws.

The plaintiff, Marie T., was employed as a cashier at a Sam’s Club in El Monte, California, from July 2, 2018 through her termination on Nov. 7, 2019.

Marie alleges a slew of labor violations in her California Sam’s Club class action lawsuit. She claims that Sam’s Club failed to pay her and other employees for all time worked, including “off-the-clock” work—specifically, time spent going through security bag searches. Employees were allegedly required to go through a security check after clocking out, waiting in line with the general public for a bag search. The process would take approximately 30 seconds, depending on the line—time that may seem insignificant for one day, but that can quickly add up, especially over months or years of work.

In California, employers are required to pay their workers for off-the-clock work, as ruled unanimously in a Starbucks class action lawsuit regarding unpaid off-the-clock work. California labor law “contemplates that employees will be paid for all work performed,” said Justice Goodwin Liu in the 7-0 ruling.

The defendants also allegedly failed to pay all wages owed at termination, including their off-the-clock compensation.

On top of these violations, the company also allegedly failed to provide Marie and other employees with accurate itemized wage statements. Marie also alleges that the company failed to provide her and other employees adequate seating, as required under Wage Order 7 and the California labor code.

Marie filed her California Sam’s Club class action lawsuit on March 16, 2020, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

The California Sam’s Club class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Marie and all other non-exempt employees who worked at a California Sam’s Club in the four years leading up to the wage and hour lawsuit. There is also a subclass of those who were terminated from this work during the class period.

Previous unpaid security bag checks have ended in major settlement agreements, such as the Amazon lawsuit filed by California warehouse workers that was settled for $11 million.

The Sam’s Club Class Action Lawsuit is Marie Taylor v. Sam’s West, Inc., Case No. 20STCV10352, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles.