Posted on 09/19/2005 6:15:38 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
OAKLAND, Calif. - Lawyers representing about 116,000 former and current Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees in California told a jury Monday that the world's largest retailer systematically and illegally denied workers lunch breaks.
The suit in Alameda County Superior Court is among about 40 cases nationwide alleging workplace violations against Wal-Mart, and the first to go to trial. Wal-Mart, which earned $10 billion last year, settled a lawsuit in Colorado for $50 million that contains similar allegations to California's class action. The company also is accused of paying men more than women in a federal lawsuit pending in San Francisco federal court.
The workers in the class-action suit are owed more than $66 million plus interest, attorney Fred Furth told the 12 jurors and four alternates.
"I will prove the reason they did this was for the God Almighty dollar," Furth said in his opening statement.
Nine jurors must side with the plaintiffs to prevail. Millions of dollars also are sought to punish the company for the alleged wrongdoing.
The case concerns a 2001 state law, which is among the nation's most worker friendly. Employees who work at least six hours must have a 30-minute, unpaid lunch break. If they do not get that, the law requires they are paid for an additional hour of pay.
The lawsuit covers former and current employees in California from 2001 to 2005.
Wal-Mart declined to give an opening statement, reserving its right to give one later. Its lawyers also declined comment.
In court documents, the Bentonville, Ark., company claims that workers did not demand penalty wages on a timely basis. Wal-Mart adds that it did pay some employees their penalty pay and, in 2003, most workers agreed to waive their meal periods as the law allows.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company also says some violations were minor, such as demanding employees punch back in from lunch and work during their meal breaks. In essence, workers were provided a shorter meal period than the law allows.
The case does not claim that employees were forced to work off the clock during their lunch breaks.
The lawsuit was brought in 2001 by a handful of San Francisco-area former Wal-Mart employees, and took four years of legal wrangling to get to trial. During that time, Wal-Mart produced internal audits that plaintiffs' lawyers maintain showed the company knew it was not granting meal breaks on thousands of occasions.
That 2000 audit was given to top-level executives, according to evidence submitted to jurors Monday.
One company document called results of the audit "a chronic problem." A one-week review of company policies showed thousands of instances in which workers were not given a meal break in accordance with the law, according to the documents provided to the jury.
"This is Wal-Mart auditing Wal-Mart," Furth said.
On Tuesday, as many as three plaintiffs are expected to testify in a trial that will last weeks.
Several lawyers representing out-of-state Wal-Mart workers in class action lawsuits were in the gallery. Karin Kramer, a lawyer suing Wal-Mart on behalf of 50,000 Washington state company workers, said suing Wal-Mart is a gargantuan task.
"They can afford and do fight you on every single issue," she said.
Shares of Wal-Mart rose 14 cents to close at $44.01 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Lunch is for wimps GG
They should try being a public school teacher. I work through the day w/o any breaks. I also work weekends w/o additional pay. So the Wally World folks have it pretty good in my opinion.
I contend the lawsuit was initiated for the same reason!
But I thought anyone who worked at Walmart couldn't even afford to buy food. I thought working there was some kind of punishment or sumthin.
I worked as a nurse in an ER for 3 years....what is lunch?
or a six-hour workday?
But they work all year round and only make minumum wage for showing up all year round. They don't get paid for every holiday, sick day or get too much vacation. In fact I think they work some holidays....and have to work 8 hours a day...
Lunch is overrated.
a knowing giggle and an agreeing nod.....
>>They should try being a public school teacher. I work through the day w/o any breaks. I also work weekends w/o additional pay. So the Wally World folks have it pretty good in my opinion.<<
But only work 9 months out of the year.
Jesse
AND, the thing that no one understands is that some WalMart workers are task assigned.
So if you have 200 boxes of shoes to put up in a day and choose to socialize 2 hours of that day, you will have to give up lunch or stay over.
They got their lunch, they chose not to eat.
You picked the wrong state to teach in. Come to New Jersey where not only do you get all kinds of breaks, you get a teacher's aid to spoon feed you your lunch and wipe your chin.
I think, you forgot the obligatory "/sarcasm" after your remark.
Hey, my hubby is on Customer Calls of his computer company. He hasn't had a lunch in 7 years.
I pack him PB&J that he eats between calls.
These workers are whiners.
thank you
I dont usually take lunch either, but I LIKE MY JOB.
Have them pull there Time cards.
They have to Clock in and out for lunch, but not for breaks. I bet Walmart is not getting the money back for the extra long breaks these people took?
But right now I am about to put together 3 lesson plans... I also work with troubled yutes....
How many Wally folks have kids cussing at them one second and thanking them the next.... I enjoy it though. Most the kids are just missing a dad.
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