$50 MILLION to settle an off-the-clock class action suit in Colorado
In 2000, "Wal-Mart paid $50 million to settle a class-action suit that asserted that 69,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees in Colorado had worked off the clock."
Source: Steven Greenhouse, "Suits Say Wal-Mart Workers Forced To Toil Off The Clock," New York Times, June 25, 2002 [reprinted via Common Dreams]
In Texas it is estimated that they cheated workers out of up to one hundred and fifty million dollars in unpaid wages
"In a recently certified class-action suit in Texas on behalf of more than 200,000 current and former Wal-Mart workers, statisticians estimate that the company underpaid its Texas workers by $150 million over four years by not paying them for the many times they worked during their daily 15-minute breaks. That $150 million estimate does not include other types of unpaid work. The statisticians, who analyzed time records from 12 Wal-Mart stores, found that the Texas employees averaged at least one hour of unpaid work each week from working through breaks."
Source: Steven Greenhouse, "Suits Say Wal-Mart Workers Forced To Toil Off The Clock," New York Times, June 25, 2002 [reprinted via Common Dreams]
Wal-Mart Managers delete time from workers' timecards
In Massachusetts, "a Middlesex court judge has put his imprimatur on a suit alleging the retail giant failed to pay employees for time worked and neglected to give them meal and rest breaks, the Herald has learned. The eight-page ruling by Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy cites an affidavit by a computer expert hired by the plaintiffs. The expert allegedly found 7,000 instances during a one-year period when Wal-Mart managers deleted large blocks of time from their employee payroll records."
Source: John Strahinich, "Judge OKs Employee Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart," Boston Herald, January 7, 2005.
Meanwhile, in California, a class-action lawsuit potentially involving up to 215,000 current and former Wal-Mart and Sam's Club employees "charges that Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., deleted thousands of hours of time worked from employees' payroll records by erasing overtime hours and by penalizing employees who forgot to punch in after their meal breaks by denying them pay for the remainder of those days."
Source: "Alameda County Suit Alleges Wal-Mart Cheated Workers," Bay City News, January 20, 2005.
Wal-Mart currently faces lawsuits in thirty-one different States for wage and hour abuses potentially involving hundreds of thousand workers.
Wal-Mart Wage and Hour "Off the Clock" Class Actions:
Adcox v. WM, US Dist. Ct. ("USDC"), Southern Dist. of TX, 11/9/04;
Armijo v. WM, 1st Judicial Dist. Ct., Rio Arriba County, NM, 9/18/00;
Bailey v. WM, Marion County Superior Ct. IN, 8/17/00;
Barnett v. WM, Superior Ct. of WA, King County, 9/10/01;
Basco v. WM, USDC, Eastern Dist. of LA, 9/5/00;
Braun v. WM, 1st Judicial Dist. Ct. Dakota County MN, 9/12/01;
Braun v. WM, Ct. of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, PA, 3/20/02;
Brown v. WM, 14th Judicial Circuit Ct., Rock Island, IL, 6/20/01;
Carr v. WM, Superior Ct. of Fulton County, GA, 8/14/01;
Culver v. WM, USDC, Dist. of CO, 12/10/1996;
Carter v. WM, Ct. of Common Pleas, Colleton County, SC, 7/31/02;
Gamble v. WM, Supreme Ct. of the State of NY, County of Albany, 12/7/01;
Gross v. WM, Circuit Ct., Laurel County, KY, 9/29/04;
Hale v. WM, Circuit Ct., Jackson County, MO, 8/15/01;
Hall v. WM, 8th Judicial Dist. Ct., Clark County, NV, 9/9/99;
Harrison v. WM, Superior Ct. of Forsyth County, NC, 11/29/00;
Holcomb v. WM, State Ct. of Chatham County, GA, 3/28/00;
Hummel v. WM, Common Pleas Ct. of Philadelphia County, PA, 8/30/04;
Iliadis v. WM, Superior Ct. of NJ, Middlesex County, 5/30/02;
Kuhlmann (In Re: Wal-Mart Employee Litigation) v. WM, Circuit Ct., Milwaukee County, WI, 8/30/01;
Lerma v. WM, Dist. Ct., Cleveland County, OK, 8/31/01;
Lopez v. WM, 23rd Judicial Dist. Ct. of Brazoria County, TX, 6/23/00;
Mendoza v. WM, Superior Ct. of CA, Ventura County, 3/2/04;
Michell v. WM, USDC, Eastern Dist. of TX, Marshall Div., 9/13/02;
Montgomery v. WM, USDC, Southern Dist. of MS, 12/30/02;
Mussman v. WM, IA Dist. Ct., Clinton County, 6/5/01;
Nagy v. WM, Circuit Ct. of Boyd County, KY, 8/29/01;
Newland v. WM, Superior Ct. of CA, Alameda County, CA, 01/14/05;
Osuna v. WM, Superior Ct. of AZ, Pima County, 11/30/01;
Pickett v. WM, Circuit Court, Shelby County, TN, 10/22/03;
Pittman v. WM, Circuit Ct. for Prince George's County, MD, 7/31/02;
Robinson v. WM, Circuit Ct., Holmes County, MS, 12/30/02;
Sago v. WM, Circuit Ct., Holmes County, MS, 12/31/02;
Romero v. WM, Superior Ct. of CA, Monterey County, 03/25/04;
Salvas v. WM, Superior Ct., Middlesex County, MA, 8/21/01;
Sarda v. WM, Circuit Ct., Washington County, FL, 9/21/01;
Savaglio v. WM, Superior Ct. of CA, Alameda County, 2/6/01;
Scott v. WM, Circuit Ct. of Saginaw County, MI, 9/26/01;
Smith v. WM, Circuit Ct., Holmes County, MS, 12/31/02;
Thiebes v. WM, USDC, Dist. of OR, 6/30/98;
Willey v. WM, Dist. Ct. of Wyandotte County, KS, 9/21/01;
Williams v. WM, Superior Ct. of CA, Alameda County, 3/23/04;
Wilson v. WM, Common Pleas Ct. of Butler County, OH, 10/27/03;
Winters v. WM, Circuit Ct., Holmes County, MS, 5/28/02.
Source: Wal-Mart Stores 10K Filing, March 31, 2005, Pg. 16, Item 3. |
