Category: Litigation Highlights

Kelly Knaub, Law360 – February 7, 2014

A federal judge in Florida on Friday granted conditional certification to a class of Morgan Stanley & Co. financial advisors who allege the bank withheld overtime compensation. 

The case is Devries v. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC et al., case number 12-81223, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Plaintiffs are represented by Gregg I. Shavitz, Susan H. Stern and Paolo C. Meireles of Shavitz Law Group PA and by Seth R. Lesser, Fran L. Rudich, Michael J. Palitz and Rachel Aghassi of Klafter Olsen & Lesser LLP.

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Lisa Ryan, Law360 – March 13, 2015

Workers accusing OfficeMax Inc. of withholding its assistant managers’ overtime wages in a collective action urged a New York federal judge on Friday to compel the company’s corporate representative to testify about communications with its in-house counsel, saying he played a “lead role” in the decision to classify the employees as exempt. 

The suit is Heitzenrater et al v. OfficeMax Inc. et al, case number 1:12­cv­00900, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

The plaintiffs are represented by Susan H. Stern, Gregg I. Shavitz, Paolo C. Meireles and Michael Palitz of Shavitz Law Group PA, and Seth R. Lesser and Fran L. Rudich of Klafter Olsen & Lesser LLP.

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Jeff Zalesin, Law360 – June 17, 2015

A nationwide class of Pilot Corp. restaurant and retail employees, possibly numbering more than 82,000, won conditional collective status Tuesday in a federal suit accusing the travel center company of manipulating time records to conceal off the clock work. 

The case is Taylor v. Pilot Corp. et al., case number 2:14­cv­02294, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

The plaintiffs are represented by Michael L. Russell of Gilbert Russell McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC and Keith M. Stern of Shavitz Law Group PA.

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Matthew Guarnaccia, Law360 – September 20, 2016

A Barnes & Noble cafe manager launched a proposed class action lawsuit in New York federal court on Tuesday alleging the bookstore giant classified managers as salaried employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act in order to avoid paying overtime, even though they perform a similar job function to nonexempt workers. 

The case is Brown v. Barnes and Noble Inc., case number 1:16­cv­07333, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Brown is represented by Michael J. Palitz and Gregg I. Shavitz of Shavitz Law Group PA.

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Matthew Guarnaccia, Law360 – November 28, 2016

A Missouri federal judge on Monday granted conditional certification to a class of assistant managers at Midwest department store chain Gordmans Stores Inc. in a lawsuit accusing their employer of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, ruling that the workers demonstrated the possibility of a companywide policy misclassifying them as overtime-exempt. 

The case is Cox et al. v. Gordmans Stores Inc., case number 4:16­cv­00219, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The assistant managers were represented by George A. Hanson and Alexander T. Ricke of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, and Gregg I. Shavitz, Susan H. Stern and Camar Jones of Shavitz Law Group PA.

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Kelcee Griffis, Law360 – December 9, 2016

A group of current and former Petco Animal Supply Stores Inc. pet groomers has reached a settlement with the retail chain according to a letter released on Thursday, ending their class action claiming the stores forced thousands of groomers to pay for grooming tools required for their jobs.

The case is Kristina Kucker et al. v. Petco Animal Supplies Stores Inc., case number 1:14­cv­ 09983, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Kristina Kucker and the proposed class are represented by Brian S. Schaffer and Arsenio Rodriguez of Fitapelli & Schaffer LLP, and Gregg I. Shavitz and Alan Quiles of Shavitz Law Group PA.

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Joanna Szabo, Top Class Actions – January 2, 2017

Two claims by employees of Chase Bank are expected to soon be consolidated into a single bank manager unpaid overtime class action..

A large number of assistant bank managers may be considered class members in this lawsuit. Indeed, Chase Bank has over 5,500 branches in the country.

Visit Top Class Actions to read the full article.

Alex Wolf, Law360 – January 19, 2017

Golden Corral Corp. may offer customers an endless buffet, but it has shown itself to be less bountiful to those it employs as associate managers by wrongfully exempting them from federal and state overtime pay requirements, according to a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday. 

The case is Hintleiter et al. v. Golden Corral Corp., case number 1:17­cv­00014, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mark J. Gottesfeld and Peter Winebrake of Winebrake & Santillo LLC, Justin M. Swartz, Melissa L. Stewart and Christopher M. McNerney of Outten & Golden LLP, and Gregg I. Shavitz and Michael Palitz of Shavitz Law Group PA.

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Joyce Hanson, Law360 – April 26, 2017

Employees of a Florida franchisee of pancake restaurant chain IHOP filed a proposed collective action against their employer in Florida federal court Tuesday, accusing it of improperly classifying assistant managers and managers in training as being exempt from overtime pay.  

The case is Littlejohn et al. v. Sunshine Restaurant Merger Sub LLC et al., case number 0:17-cv 60810, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Littlejohn is represented by Gregg I. Shavitz and Alan L. Quiles of the Shavitz Law Group

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Bryan Chapel, who worked as a Spencer store manager in Clay, N.Y., alleges the company should have paid him overtime for his extra work hours because most of his duties weren’t managerial. Instead, the company paid him an annual salary and classified him as exempt from overtime regulations. 

Chapel sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law and is asking for certification of a class action. He originally filed the case in New York state court, but Spencer Gifts had the case removed April 9 to federal court, Chapel’s attorney, Michael Palitz, told Bloomberg Law in an April 11 email. 

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