Urban Outfitters Department Manager Alleges Overtime Pay Violations

Superior Court Action Filed By Urban Outfitters Department Manager Alleges Overtime Violations 

On December 7, 2017, an overtime pay lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, by Plaintiff Adam Friedlander against Pennsylvania-based Urban Outfitters, Inc.

The Plaintiff, an Urban Outfitters Department Manager from approximately July 2011 through approximately January 2014, alleged that Urban Outfitters wrongfully classified him as exempt from overtime protections under federal and California law and did not pay him for regularly worked overtime.

In the Superior Court action, the Plaintiff brought federal wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and state claims California Labor Code, Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201-203, 226, 510, 1194, 1198, California Wage Order 7, and Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.

Unpaid Overtime Sought by Urban Outfitters Department Manager

The Department Manager alleged FLSA and state law violations and, among other things, is attempting to recover unpaid overtime and liquidated damages for hours worked beyond 40 hours per workweek at a pay rate of not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay and liquidated damages under the FLSA.  Under California law, the Plaintiff is trying to recover unpaid wages for all hours worked in excess of eight in a workday at a rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay and unpaid damages for all hours worked in excess of 12 in a workday at a rate of double the regular rate of pay.

Urban Outfitters Department Manager – Misclassified as Exempt & Not Paid Overtime

According to the state complaint, Plaintiff, in his capacity as an Urban Outfitters Department Manager, regularly performed his primary work duties, which included cleaning the store, folding clothes, building displays, and unloading freight.  The Urban Outfitters Department Manager, who was supervised by an Urban Outfitters Store Manager while performing his job duties, worked more than 40 hours per week and/or more than eight hours per day without being paid overtime.

According to the complaint:

[Urban Outfitters] acted willfully and/or with reckless disregard of the law in classifying Plaintiff as exempt from overtime requirements. [Emphasis added]

Upon information and belief, [Urban Outfitters] did not analyze Plaintiff’s specific job duties when it determined that he was ineligible for overtime. [Emphasis added]

Upon information and belief, [Urban Outfitters’] unlawful conduct was and is pursuant to its policy of attempting to minimize labor costs by classifying non-exempt workers as exempt while requiring them to perform non-exempt work. [Urban Outfitters] established labor budgets to cover labor costs for the stores in which Plaintiff worked. The wages for [Urban Outfitters’] store-level employees, including Plaintiff, were deducted from the labor budgets. However, [Urban Outfitters] did not provide sufficient money for the labor budgets, causing Plaintiff, who was not paid overtime, to work additional hours without compensation so that [Urban Outfitters] could avoid paying additional wages to its hourly (non-exempt) store-level employees. [Urban Outfitters] did not consider the impact of its insufficient labor budget on Plaintiff’s job duties, including whether staying within the budget required Plaintiff to perform manual labor and non-exempt duties. [Emphasis added]

Throughout Plaintiff’s employment, [Urban Outfitters] failed to maintain accurate and sufficient time records for Plaintiff. [Urban Outfitters] had a policy and/or practice that did not allow Plaintiff to record all hours worked.

Urban Outfitters Files Notice of Removal to Federal Court

On January 3, 2018, Defendant Urban Outfitters, Inc. filed a Notice of Removal in United States District Court, Central District of California, to remove the aforementioned Superior Court action to federal court based on federal question jurisdiction and other legal reasons.

Urban Outfitters Department Managers

If you served as a Department Manager for Urban Outfitters and have questions or concerns about your potential legal rights or claims, please contact Michael K. Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], complete the form above on the right or e-mail [email protected].

 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.