Once a lawsuit has been filed, some employers will try to find ways out of the legal mess they have created for themselves. Often, this only leads to a bigger mess. Such is the case with Schneider Logistics, a contractor for Wal-Mart.
After a group of employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, employees were reportedly called into meetings with company officials and the company’s attorneys. The attorneys allegedly interviewed the workers about their working conditions in the warehouse. The employees were allegedly told that these meetings were voluntary, yet they were allegedly asked to sign legal documents at the conclusion of their session. They were also allegedly not told that any information they gave during these meetings could be used against them in their lawsuit against Schneider Logistics.
The lawsuit at issue here was filed in 2012 and involves allegations of unpaid overtime as a result of an alternative workweek schedule, and violations of meal and rest break provisions.
United States District Court Judge Christina Snyder determined that these meetings were “fundamentally misleading and deceptive”. When reaching this decision, she cited the fact that Schneider never informed employees that their signed statements could be used against them in court. She therefore banned Schneider Logistics from using the employees’ signed statements in the lawsuit. The company is also barred from further communication with employees involved in the lawsuit unless it has permission from the court.
Schneider has reportedly accepted the judge’s ruling without dispute.
The Chicago overtime lawyers at the Chicago Overtime Law Center are investigating unpaid overtime claims against large retail chains such as GAP, Abercrombie & Fitch, J.C Penney, Walmart, Sears and other retail chains for misclassifying employees as managers, erasing or altering time sheets or time records, pressuring workers not to report or record overtime, and otherwise failing to pay workers for overtime and other wages. If you are the victim this practice call us at (312) 869-4095 or contact us online.
The Illinois overtime attorneys at the Chicago Overtime Law Center have decades of experience fighting for wage earner’s rights. We have a team of overtime attorneys who focus on nationwide class action lawsuits and work out of Chicago and Oak Brook offices and prosecute claims for workers all over the Chicago area including Wheaton and Naperville. We protect unpaid workers who haven’t received overtime throughout the Chicago area including in DuPage, Kane and Cook Counties.
Our Des Plaines and Park Ridge overtime lawyers are intimately familiar with the issues that arise during wage claim litigation, and we know the laws that govern overtime cases well. Many employers misclassify employees as being exempt from overtime laws and pay workers salaries instead of hourly wages in order to avoid paying them overtime. Some employers mistakenly classify employees as exempt and others intentionally do so in order to circumvent the law. In either case, workers do not receive the wages they should, and a lawsuit may be the only way to recover their earned wages.
The Chicago Overtime Law Center is based in Chicago, and represents clients throughout the country who have not been paid for the overtime hours that they worked. If you believe that you are owed overtime wages, contact one of our Chicago class action attorneys by phone at (312) 869-4095 or through our online form.