BJ’s Wholesale Agrees to $2.7M Overtime Class Action Settlement

If the judge approves the class action settlement, it will resolve allegations that BJ’s purposefully misclassified key managers in order to get around paying them overtime. This specifically includes loss prevention managers, asset protection managers and personnel managers, according to the class action lawsuit. 

If the overtime settlement is approved, “meaningful compensation” will be given to the employees to make up for their unpaid hours, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in their motion to approve the deal. 

The plaintiffs filed the BJ’s overtime class action lawsuit in June 2012, alleging that they were “required” to put in more than 40 hours a week without overtime compensation. They say that requirement was in direct violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act as well as state laws. Only a few of the positions at BJs are exempt from overtime, and these employees were wrongly put in those categories as a means to pay them less than what they were owed, the class action lawsuit claims. 

Plaintiffs are asking the judge to certify a proposed class of all BJ’s managers who worked for the company from July 19, 2009, until the present. They are also seeking certification of a sub-class of employees who worked in 15 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.

The BJ’s Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Settlement is Gene Cintron, et al. v. BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., Case No. 1:12-cv-11064, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Do You Have a Wage and Hour Complaint? 

Unpaid overtime is one aspect of wage and hour disputes, but others might include forced unpaid breaks (that should be paid) or managers changing time cards to reflect a shorter time worked. There are wage and hour issues in government agencies, restaurants, retailers and pretty much any other industry where there are employees. Joining a wage and hour lawsuit or class action lawsuit, can help these employees get the compensation they deserve.