SACRAMENTO, CA — A warehouse worker at Amazon’s Sacramento, California shipping center recently filed a class action unpaid overtime lawsuit against the retailer over claims that the company denied him and others overtime pay, time spent traveling to and from clock-in areas, and mandatory meal breaks. The claim, filed by a single plaintiff, hopes to gain class-action status to represent all similarly affected workers at the facility and recover all unpaid wages and damages for the missed meal breaks.
According to the unpaid overtime lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, defendants Amazon and Golden State FC regularly denied the plaintiff and other workers overtime and compensatory pay for missing mandatory meal and rest breaks. Under California wage and labor laws, employees working an eight-hour shift must take 10-minute breaks every four hours and a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break immediately after their fifth hour on the job.
The duration of the rest and meal breaks cannot include the time it takes for workers to travel to and from designated break areas, which is one of the main issues in the case. If an employer cannot provide the employee his or her full meal or rest break, the individual must be compensated with an additional hour of premium overtime pay.
Furthermore, by failing to take into account the five to 10 minutes each day that workers spend traveling to and from break areas, the defendants did not pay workers one and a half times their average hourly rate of pay after spending eight hours working. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Amazon did not furnish workers with an additional 30-minute meal break when employees worked more than 10 hours in a day, as required by California law.
In response to the lawsuit, Amazon released a statement reading, “We follow all state and federal employment regulations, but we have a longstanding practice of not commenting on pending litigation.” A Superior Court judge is expected to rule on whether the suit can proceed as a class action on not.
Warehouse Worker Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
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Our office will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. Because strict time limitations apply for filing these types of claims, we advise you contact our experienced unpaid overtime wage attorneys at your earliest convenience and preserve your legal rights.