A federal judge has conditionally certified a class action suit of potentially 85,000 current and former employees of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The suit alleges that UPMC violated the FLSA by denying its employees overtime pay and automatically deducting money from their paychecks for meal breaks even though the employees worked during their entire shift.  Under the FLSA, an employer may not automatically deduct meal breaks from an employee’s wages if the employee has not actually taken the break unless the employer identifies special conditions to support such a policy.  Finding that UPMC failed to identify the special conditions necessary to support the practice of deducting meal breaks regardless of whether employees actually took the breaks, the judge granted conditional certification to the FLSA representative action.  Accordingly, plaintiffs can notify all current and former non-exempt employees from the past three years that they can opt in to the lawsuit.  The case is Camesi et al. v. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center et al and is in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  If you have been subjected to similar unfair practices, visit The Employment Law Group® law firm’s Wage and Hour Practice at http://www.employmentlawgroup.net/PracticeAreas/Non-Payment-of-Wages.asp.

Casey’s General Store Inc. has agreed to pay $12 million to settle two class action suits concerning alleged violations of wage and hour laws.  According to two former assistant managers, the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by repeatedly failing to pay them overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.  Additionally, the assistant managers alleged that the company denied its employees mandatory meal and rest breaks and required them to work before and after their shifts.  The settlement, which remains subject to state court approval, covers a putative class of over 80,000 employees.   A hearing on the preliminary approvals is scheduled for next Monday, May 18, 2009. 

For more information on wage and hour laws, visit The Employment Law Group® law firm’s Wage and Hour Practice at http://www.employmentlawgroup.net/PracticeAreas/Non-Payment-of-Wages.asp