Urban Outfitters Overtime Lawsuit – Plaintiff Department Manager Allegedly Misclassified as Exempt Under Federal Overtime Laws
On December 27, 2017, an overtime lawsuit was filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, by Plaintiff Joshua Allison for misclassifying him as exempt under federal overtime laws and failing to pay Plaintiff for all hours worked, as well as overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.
The Plaintiff, according to the complaint, served as a Department Manager for Urban Outfitters from approximately July 2012 until April 2013 in Norfolk Virginia and in Savannah, Georgia from April 2013 until October 2013.
Urban Outfitters Overtime Lawsuit – Overtime Lawsuit Allegations
The Plaintiff in the Urban Outfitters overtime lawsuit alleges that he is entitled to 1) unpaid wages from Urban Outfitters for all hours he worked, as well as for overtime worked for which he did not receive premium pay; and 2) liquidated damages pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).
Urban Outfitters Overtime Lawsuit – Overtime Lawsuit’s Statement of Facts
According to the complaint:
As a Department Manager, Plaintiff’s work was performed in the normal course of Urban Outfitters’ business and was integrated into it.
Plaintiff regularly worked in excess of forty hours per workweek without receiving overtime compensation.
Defendant scheduled Plaintiff to work 40 hours per week, but Plaintiff worked an average of approximately 55-65 hours per week during each week in which he worked five or more shifts.
Urban Outfitters assigned all of the work that Plaintiff performed or was aware of it.
Plaintiff’s work required little skill or capital investment and did not include the exercise of meaningful independent judgment and discretion.
Urban Outfitters Overtime Lawsuit – “Subordinate” Department Managers
According to the Urban Outfitters overtime lawsuit complaint, Urban Outfitters’ Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016, “all but admits that [Urban Outfitters’] stores are run by their store managers, and the Department Manager position is treated as a subordinate one, on the level of staff.”
According to the complaint, Urban Outfitters’ Form 10-K states the following:
We have organized our retail store operations by brand into geographic areas or districts that each have a district manager. District managers are responsible for several stores and monitor and supervise individual store managers. Each store manager is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of one of our stores. In addition to a store manager, the staff of a typical store includes a combination of some or all of the following positions: a visual manager, several department managers and full and part-time sales and visual staff.
Urban Outfitters Overtime Lawsuit – Plaintiff’s Duties as an Urban Outfitters’ Department Manager
According to the overtime lawsuit complaint:
The Plaintiff’s primary duties as a Department Manager included manual labor (e.g., cleaning the store, folding clothes, building displays, unloading freight). The Plaintiff’s job duties did not include supervisory tasks such as hiring, firing, disciplining or exercising meaningful independent judgment and discretion.
Urban Outfitters, pursuant to a centralized, company-wide policy, pattern and/or practice, classified the Plaintiff and all Department Managers as exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA.
Urban Outfitters, as part of its regular business practice, intentionally, willfully, and repeatedly engaged in a policy, pattern, and/or practice of violating the FLSA with respect to Plaintiff, a policy and pattern or practice which, according to the complaint, included, but was not limited to, willfully misclassifying Plaintiff as exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA; and willfully failing to pay Plaintiff overtime wages for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per workweek.
Further, as it pertains to the named Plaintiff, Urban Outfitters failed to maintain accurate and sufficient time records; had a policy and/or practice that only allowed the Plaintiff to report a maximum of 40 hours worked per week.
Urban Outfitters Overtime Lawsuit – FLSA Violations
According to the Urban Outfitters overtime lawsuit complaint, the Plaintiff seeks, among other things, an award of unpaid wages for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek at a rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay due under the FLSA, as well as an award of liquidated and/or punitive damages as a result of Urban Outfitters’ willful failure to pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at a rate of time and one-half the regular rate of pay.
Image: “Urban Outfitters, Belfast, June 2010,” Ardfern (Own Work), CC BY-SA 3.0
Urban Outfitters Department Managers
If you served as a Department Manager for Urban Outfitters and wish to discuss whether you may have legal claims with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], or send an e-mail to [email protected].