Facts

On June 29, 2019, Shaquille Alexander began his employment with Saks & Company LLC and Saks Incorporated at their Union Square, San Francisco store as a non-exempt, hourly retail sales associate. Approximately two years later, on April 1, 2021, he filed his initial complaint against Saks in U.S.D.C. Northern, asserting Fair Labor Standards Act and California Wage and Hour claims.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: According to plaintiff, Saks's managers required Alexander, and the other sales associates to begin work at 8 a.m. to attend meetings even though they were not clocked in for pay until another hour later. Defendants also required plaintiff and other class members to wait in line to do security bag searches at the beginning and end of each workday shift, which was uncompensated but compensable work time. These security checks took about 20 minutes on average but could be longer depending on the number of employees lined up. Consequently, plaintiff argued that defendants failed to pay the time-and-one-half regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond the forty hour workweek. Specifically, plaintiff's class action complaint sought relief for: failure to pay all wages; failure to provide wages upon separation of employment; willful failure to provide accurate wage statements and maintain accurate pay records; unfair business practices; and failure to pay overtime.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all contentions.

Settlement Discussions

The parties engaged in mediation with Mediator Paul Grossman on February 23, 2022 and reached a settlement in principle that day. The settlement agreement was fully executed some three months later on June 1, 2022.

Result

The case settled for $375,000.

Other Information

The final approval hearing is set for November 17, 2022.