Staples to Pay $38 Million to Settle Asst. Manager OT Case
November 20, 2007
A wage & hour class action lawsuit brought against Staples Inc. on behalf of approximately 1,700 current and former assistant store managers in California has been settled for $38 million. The settlement is still subject to court approval. A trial had been scheduled to start earlier this month. The suit alleged that the stores misclassified assistant managers as exempt under overtime pay regulations. According to a 2003 SEC filing, the lawsuit alleged damages of up to $150 million. The company denied the claims and admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement. A spokesperson for the office products firm said that "Staples believes that its store labor model, which is based on a commitment to fair and respectful treatment of its associates, is fully compliant with applicable California law.''
I worked for Staples as a salaried assistant manager, and speak from personal experience. Staples demanded only strict compliance with their operational procedures, which mapped out our day very carefully. No amount of independent thought was permitted. No deviation from the prescribed procedures was allowed. During our average day, only a very small amount of the total time would be spent performing qualifying supervisory activities. The vast majority of our day was task oriented. Tasks included such things as receiving the trucks of freight, separating/sorting said freight, and then moving much of it around. We also counted the ink cartridges daily. One day each week, my entire day, excepting an hour or so in the morning, was spent operating the copy center. Each of the above mentioned activities fail to qualify under California law, and any reasonable measure, to rise to the level of salaried supervisor. Any one who might object to this statement is welcome to explain how unloading a truck with a pallet jack is in any way a supervisory role, day in - day out. Counting ink cartridges? Gimme a break. Staples knew this, and their failure in California was arrogance at the highest levels. I've seen it, and I gave honest and detailed deposition to that effect. I look back on my time with Staples as a low point in my career. While I was privileged to work with a great crew in my store, the company leadership wasn't comprised of persons with any kind of scruples.
Posted by: Lee | May 01, 2008 at 12:43 AM