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Judge conditionally certifies class in action against Boyd Gaming Corp.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan granted certification of a nationwide class of non-exempt employees working at Boyd Gaming Corp.’s 22 properties. The six named plaintiffs, current and former bartenders and servers, allege improper time-rounding practices, uncompensated off the clock work, and unpaid overtime under the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) for themselves and all others similarly situated. The complaint alleges that Boyd’s time rounding practices “enrich Boyd to it’s employees’ detriment” and result in up to 14 or more minutes lost per shift. The complaint further alleges that class members worked 30 to 45 minutes off the clock each shift. The Court found that the evidence presented demonstrated a companywide policy, and ordered Boyd to produce the contact information of all potential class members (estimated at 20,000 current and former employees).

Click here for the original report on the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and here for a PDF of the complaint.

District Court Grants Collective Certification of RiverBay Employees

On December 23, 2013, Judge John G. Koeltl of the Southern District of New York approved conditional certification of the proposed class in Ramirez, et. al v. Riverbay Corp., et. ano, 13 CV 2367 (JGK)(GWG). This means the Court will conditionally allow Plaintiffs to proceed with their claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of a class consisting of hourly employees of RiverBay Corp. who were employed at any time since April 9, 2007 and who were allegedly 1) subjected to a schedule based pay system; 2) received compensatory time in lieu of overtime compensation; 3) earned nighttime premium pay that was not properly calculated into overtime payments; 4) worked during uncompensated meal breaks; and/or 5) worked off-the-clock either before or after clocking in or out. The ruling permits current and former employees of Riverbay who were employed during the relevant time period to “opt-in” to the litigation and preserve their wage and hour claims, seeking unpaid straight and overtime compensation.

Please contact Brett Gallaway, Esq. at McLaughlin & Stern, LLP at 646-738-6353 or Matthew Cohen, Esq. at the Law Firm of Louis Ginsberg, PC at 877-4WAGESLAW (877-492-4375), for any questions you have about the action.

McLaughlin & Stern Defeats Motion for Summary Judgment Over Bag and Security Checks at Apple Retail Stores

On May 30, 2014, Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California issued an opinion denying a motion for summary judgment by Apple Inc. (“Apple”) in connection with a nationwide class action brought on behalf of retail store employees who are subject to uncompensated bag and technology checks. The action — Frlekin et al. v. Apple Inc., 13-cv-3451(N.D.Cal.) — alleges violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the state labor laws of California, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio, and seeks to recover overtime wages and unpaid compensation for time spent by non-exempt Apple employees waiting for and undergoing the security checks. Apple denies the allegations and claims asserted in the action. The decision is reported at 2014 WL 2451598 (N.D.Cal., May 30, 2014).

In denying summary judgment, the Court rejected Apple’s assertion that it is an employee’s “choice” to bring bags and Apple technology to work, and the security checks are, therefore, a “voluntary” activity that need not be compensated. The Court observed in this regard that “Apple employees may need to bring a bag to work for reasons they cannot control, such as the need for medication, feminine hygiene products, or disability accommodations.” The Court also observed that “[t]he summary judgment record is at best ambiguous about whether the security screenings were mandatory for at least some locations and circumstances.”

McLaughlin & Stern, LLP handles a broad range of individual and class actions on behalf of employees who have not been properly compensated by their employers. If you are a current or former Apple retail store employee and would like to know more about the action and how it relates to your experience at Apple, please contact Plaintiffs’ counsel at your convenience:

Brett R. Gallaway, Esq. (bgallaway@mclaughlinstern.com)
Wade C. Wilkinson, Esq. (wwilkinson@mclaughlinstern.com)
Telephone: 212-448-1100