Family Dollar Loses Critical Court Motion in Store Manager Overtime Case; Connecticut Employment Lawyer Says Ruling Shows Strength of Case
Hartford, CT (PRWEB) July 10, 2013 -- A Connecticut judge ruled against Family Dollar Stores of Connecticut, Inc., in an important motion in May, allowing a case brought by store managers that alleges they were denied overtime pay to continue. Connecticut employment lawyer Richard Hayber, who represents the store managers, said the victory shows the strength of the plaintiffs’ case.
“The facts and the law are on our side,” Hayber said. “We look forward to proving our case and winning these hard-working store managers the pay they deserve.”
In the case, Cook v. Family Dollar Stores of Connecticut, Inc. (Connecticut Superior Court Docket No.: UWY-CV-6011946-S), Judge Kari Dooley denied a motion for summary judgment by Family Dollar. A motion for summary judgment is a request by a party in a lawsuit for the judge to dismiss the case because there are no facts that can support the plaintiff’s claim.
By denying the motion, Judge Dooley, of the Court's Complex Litigation Docket, rejected Family Dollar’s argument that its store managers are “executives” simply because of their title, according to court documents, adopting the plaintiff’s argument that a jury will get to decide whether or not the store managers “primary duty” is management. As a result, the jury will be allowed to consider the suit's allegation that the vast majority of these “managers” time is spent unloading trucks, stocking shelves and operating a cash register.
Overcoming a motion for summary judgment is a critical step for any plaintiff’s case, said Hayber, Connecticut overtime lawyer. Store managers have been classified by Family Dollar as exempt from overtime pay under the “executive” exemption of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Connecticut’s wage and hour law, according to court documents. Employers can pay employees a salary and not pay overtime if the employee meets the definition of an executive under the law.
To be an executive, the employee must be paid at least $475 per month, have management as their primary duty, and direct the work of at least two fulltime employees or their equivalent.
The lawsuit alleges that store managers at Family Dollar stores may have “manager” as a title, but their day consists mostly of unloading trucks, stocking shelves, taking inventory, manning cash registers and other work performed by non-exempt employees, according to court documents. The suit alleges that store managers should, therefore, be paid overtime, or time-and-a-half their hourly rate, and are owed back-pay for hours they have worked, court documents say.
Lawsuits against Family Dollar took fire after a federal court in Alabama ruled in favor of a class of store managers and awarded them $54 million. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment in December 2008 (Morgan v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc., 551 F.3d 1233 (2008)).
Family Dollar ignored that ruling, however, and maintained their classification of store managers as exempt “executives.” More lawsuits ensued, but were consolidated and transferred to North Carolina, Family Dollar’s home state, where one judge has dismissed most of the new federal suits, Hayber said (See Grace, et al v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc. 637 F.3d 508 (4th Cir. 2011)).
For that judge, it is enough that the store managers were assigned management tasks and the fact that they spent upwards of 90% of their time on non-exempt work was of no importance, Hayber added. The judge still held that they were executives.
Cook is in Connecticut state court, though it is based on the same arguments that won the judgment in Alabama: namely, that the store managers primary duty is not management, since they only spend approximately 10-20% of their time actually managing, according to court documents. Hayber said the judge’s denial of Family Dollar’s motion for summary judgment is a positive sign for things to come in the case.
“We have a strong case, and we hope to win the backpay that Family Dollar store managers in Connecticut earned” Hayber said.
Current and former store managers at Family Dollar in Connecticut can still join the suit. They can contact the Hayber Law Firm by going to the Connecticut employment lawyer’s site and filling out a contact form.
Richard Hayber, Hayber Law Firm, http://www.hayberlawfirm.com, (860) 522-8888, [email protected]
Share this article