A California judge granted preliminary approval to CVS’s $12.75 million settlement for claims owing roughly 78,000 workers unpaid wages during off-the-clock bag checks. In June of 2013, the plaintiff’s causes of action for failure to pay wages, failure to provide accurate itemized statements of hours worked, unfair competition, and recovery of civil penalties under the Private Attorney General Act were certified on behalf of a class consisting of “all nonexempt employees in CVS stores in California since July, who have been, are or will be subjected to security checks and/or labeling of their personal property.”
A written tentative ruling was issued by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard E. Rico before the commencement of a hearing on Monday. The tentative ruling indicates that the judge is planning to approve the settlement agreement proposed by named plaintiffs Kimberly Murphy, Elizabeth Ortiz and Gail Miller.
Attorney for the Plaintiff’s, Hallie Von Rock, of Aiman-Smith & Marcy says “Even a few minutes of time worked off-the-clock each day by employees can add up to millions of dollars of unpaid wages. We believe that employees’ rights must be upheld for every minute of work performed.” Ms. Von Rock’s practice of law focuses mainly on the protection of workers from unfair and/or illegal employment practices.
The final approval hearing is scheduled for February 14. According to the tentative ruling, “The total settlement is $12,750,000, which includes payment to Settlement Class members, the Named Plaintiff’s enhancement awards, LWDA payment, attorney’s fees and costs, the employees’ share of payroll taxes, and administrative costs.”
To learn more about the case, click here.
Aiman-Smith & Marcy is a boutique plaintiffs’ law firm based in Oakland, California. Our attorneys specialize in representing employees and consumers in individual and class action lawsuits for wrongful termination, discrimination, and for failure to pay wages, including overtime, meal and rest breaks, and failure to reimburse for expenses as required by law or agreement.
