The Commercial Appeal, December 11, 2012 – Complaint Alleges Memphis Retailer Unfairly Docked Workers’ Pay

On Behalf of | December 11, 2012 | News

Posted December 11th, 2012.

A federal lawsuit against Memphis-based retailer City Gear accuses the company with violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying employees to avoid paying overtime.

Attorneys for the Sanford Heisler firm, which has offices in New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Nashville on Tuesday.

The complaint further alleges that managers and assistant managers who put in fewer than 45 hours a week do not receive salaried compensation, but instead are paid hourly wages. And salaried or exempt employees who are paid by the hour if they fall below 45 hours a week are not paid overtime if they clock more than 40 hours a week.

The complaint seeks back pay and damages for managers and assistant managers at any of City Gear’s divisions, dating to December 2009. Plaintiffs’ attorneys estimate that at least 200 employees may be affected.

“We’re only able to go back three years and the clock is ticking, so we’re encouraging people to contact us right away if they’ve been affected by these practices,” Melzer said. “We have to move quickly.”

“I haven’t seen the suit yet, but City Gear has always complied with the law regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Fishman said. “Mike Longo is a fine man and I’ve never known him to do anything bad to anybody. As soon as we get a copy of this we’ll file our response.”

This article was originally published in The Commercial Appeal.

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