The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a $151 million
judgement against Walmart and Sam's Club in a class-action lawsuit alleging
that employees were forced to work while on break, off the clock, or through
designated meal times.
The December 15 decision affects a class of 187,979
members who worked at Walmart or Sam's Club from March 1998 to December 2005.
"Walmart had promised them paid rest and meal
breaks, but then had forced them, in whole or in part, to miss breaks or work
through breaks, and also to work "off-the-clock," i.e., to work
without pay, after a scheduled shift had concluded," said court documents.
The plaintiffs alleged systemic wage-and-hour violations
and presented the testimony of a number of former and current Walmart employees
who said "they had regularly been forced to work without taking breaks (or
to take shortened breaks) because the stores in which they worked were
chronically understaffed."
Walmart argued that such a case should not have been
brought as a class-action "because Appellees did not present sufficient,
class-wide 'common' evidence of contract formation, breach, or unjust
enrichment," said court documents.
"In our view, this was not a case of 'trial by
formula' or of a class action 'run amok,' " the court ruled.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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