A Pennsylvania judge has granted preliminary approval to a $575,00 class action settlement with Abercrombie & Fitch Co. over allegations it stiffed workers out of overtime pay.
The unpaid overtime class action lawsuit was filed by lead plaintiff Paul Oliver in November 2012, when he alleged that the retail company violated the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act with its overtime wage policy. The Abercrombie & Fitch overtime settlement covers 702 employees who were affected by these wage violations between November 2009 and January 2014.
Oliver filed the unpaid overtime lawsuit against Abercrombie, alleging the company failed to pay him and other employees overtime pay as required by federal law. The company also allegedly failed to acknowledge and pay bonuses the employees when they were owed, and failed to offer remedy or reimburse lost wages. Allegedly, a number of employees in suffered from these wage violations, including assistant manager positions.
According to the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, employees are entitled to overtime wages which are at least 1.5 times greater than the standard rate. Oliver alleged that Abercrombie violated this law by using their automated overtime calculation methods to mismanage hours.
According to the defendant’s model, in a fluctuating work week, all non-exempt employees are paid a fixed amount per week and receive half their hourly wage for each hour of overtime. It is important to note that this model is allowed under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but the way the defendant manages the system is allegedly in violation of state law.
The money from the Abercrombie overtime class action settlement will be distributed among the Class Members to reimburse them for their lost wages and to pay for any attorney’s fees.
The Abercrombie Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Oliver v. Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Case No. 121102571, in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas