What a steal - Wal-Mart accused of rolling back employees’ earned pay
What a steal - Wal-Mart accused of rolling back employees’ earned pay
By Casey Ross - Boston Herald
Sunday, July, 2 2006
Wal-Mart violated state law more than 1 million times by skimping on work breaks and pay owed to thousands of former employees, says a lawyer representing Massachusetts plaintiffs in one of the state’s largest-ever class-action lawsuits.
The volume of claims in the long-running suit against the megaretailer has expanded dramtically in recent months, even as lawyers for Wal-Mart pursue motions to torpedo the case by challenging its class-action status.
Documents filed in Middlesex Superior Court last week by an attorney representing Wal-Mart employees charge the company is trying to “extinguish the claims” of Bay State plaintiffs who were shorted pay in “well over one million” instances.
“All these people depended on their paychecks to live day to day,” said attorney Robert Bonsignore, who represents Wal-Mart employees. “They were chiseled out of pennies compared to Wal-Mart’s billions.”
Wal-Mart declined to address the allegations in the case, saying, “It is disrespectful to the court to comment on matters that will be heard in a legal proceeding. . . . we’re not going to comment.”
The Massachusetts suit is one of 70 some lawsuits Wal-Mart is facing nationwide, with employees from Oregon to Arkansas alleging the company deprived them of full pay for regular and overtime hours, and in some cases deliberately manipulated time sheets.
Officials with state Attorney General Tom Reilly’s office say they are closely monitoring the Massachusetts case and are seeking access to evidence gathered in the suit that would allow the state to pursue its own legal case.
Bonsignore, who has worked with a California firm that won a $172 million verdict against Wal-Mart last year, is also the lead attorney on a 22-state federal lawsuit alleging systematic wage and hour violations by the company.
Among his clients is a disabled woman from Chelmsford who has accused Wal-Mart of changing her time sheet to show she worked only one minute on days she worked eight-hour shifts. “When I went to to complain, my manager just told me (my paycheck) was right, that there wasn’t a problem,” said Kelly Thompson, 32, who worked as a greeter for about a year before being terminated. “But they would never open up the books to show me. They just insisted.”
Thompson, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, said she was shocked when her lawyers showed her a computer analysis alleging that Wal-Mart routinely denied her pay for the hours she worked. “I feel like I was ripped off,” she said. “I couldn’t believe they would actually do this to someone.”
A Wal-Mart official declined an opportunity to respond to Thompson’s allegations. The Massachusetts case against the company is scheduled to go to trial in October.
© 2005 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
This site is in no way connected with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. or any affiliate of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
By Casey Ross - Boston Herald
Sunday, July, 2 2006
Wal-Mart violated state law more than 1 million times by skimping on work breaks and pay owed to thousands of former employees, says a lawyer representing Massachusetts plaintiffs in one of the state’s largest-ever class-action lawsuits.
The volume of claims in the long-running suit against the megaretailer has expanded dramtically in recent months, even as lawyers for Wal-Mart pursue motions to torpedo the case by challenging its class-action status.
Documents filed in Middlesex Superior Court last week by an attorney representing Wal-Mart employees charge the company is trying to “extinguish the claims” of Bay State plaintiffs who were shorted pay in “well over one million” instances.
“All these people depended on their paychecks to live day to day,” said attorney Robert Bonsignore, who represents Wal-Mart employees. “They were chiseled out of pennies compared to Wal-Mart’s billions.”
Wal-Mart declined to address the allegations in the case, saying, “It is disrespectful to the court to comment on matters that will be heard in a legal proceeding. . . . we’re not going to comment.”
The Massachusetts suit is one of 70 some lawsuits Wal-Mart is facing nationwide, with employees from Oregon to Arkansas alleging the company deprived them of full pay for regular and overtime hours, and in some cases deliberately manipulated time sheets.
Officials with state Attorney General Tom Reilly’s office say they are closely monitoring the Massachusetts case and are seeking access to evidence gathered in the suit that would allow the state to pursue its own legal case.
Bonsignore, who has worked with a California firm that won a $172 million verdict against Wal-Mart last year, is also the lead attorney on a 22-state federal lawsuit alleging systematic wage and hour violations by the company.
Among his clients is a disabled woman from Chelmsford who has accused Wal-Mart of changing her time sheet to show she worked only one minute on days she worked eight-hour shifts. “When I went to to complain, my manager just told me (my paycheck) was right, that there wasn’t a problem,” said Kelly Thompson, 32, who worked as a greeter for about a year before being terminated. “But they would never open up the books to show me. They just insisted.”
Thompson, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, said she was shocked when her lawyers showed her a computer analysis alleging that Wal-Mart routinely denied her pay for the hours she worked. “I feel like I was ripped off,” she said. “I couldn’t believe they would actually do this to someone.”
A Wal-Mart official declined an opportunity to respond to Thompson’s allegations. The Massachusetts case against the company is scheduled to go to trial in October.
© 2005 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
This site is in no way connected with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. or any affiliate of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
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