In an out of court settlement approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Lowes Home Improvement yesterday agreed to pay up to $29.5 million to settle a class action law suit covering all of California. Two former Lowes employees alleged that they, and thousands of other hourly Lowes workers, were not paid for hours they were required to work "off the clock" before and after their normal shifts. Although Lowes agreed to pay the $29.5 million, they denied all of the claims raised in the lawsuit. What's wrong with this picture?

According to Chris Ahearn, Lowes spokesperson, "We contested the case all along, and we always have, and continue to, comply with federal and state wage and hour laws. We do have processes in place and systems in place that actually require employees to confirm the accuracy of the hours that they've worked, so that we can make sure that we are paying those employees appropriately."

Your Editors asked "Why would Lowes settle for almost $30 million if they didn't do anything wrong?" Ahearn said "The case went on for many years which is a very expensive process and we determined that it was in the best interests of all involved to settle the case."

In other words, if it went to trial, it could have cost Lowes a whole lot more than $30 million. According to Marcus Bradley, of Marlin & Saltzman, one of the attorneys for the class members, The case was getting close to going to trial. If it went to trial, some of the workers would have been called to testify. "At the end of the day, the store managers would lock the doors and then the supervisors would go through tills for the cashiers and go up and down the aisles and make sure the items were stocked properly. So everybody who had done those tasks in the various departments, congregated at the front of the store, but they wouldn't let them out." Bradley indicated that there are about 55,000 Lowes employees involved. The lawyers talked to about 1,000 of the workers and took depositions from 75. The class members will get about
$100 for every $10,000 of wages earned during the 11 year period ending April 2009. The attorneys will get 1/3 of the $29.5 million.

Bradley said "We heard enough stories in enough depositions from people who said 'Yes, I was off the clock at the end of the day, I would have to do some work, or I couldn't get out of the store because the doors were locked, or I would be called during my lunch or break period to come and do some work.' We heard stories like that pretty much up and down {the state}.

The case was originally filed in October of 2001. It was litigated for over 7 years, and raised legal issues that were twice resolved by the California Court of Appeal. In one decision, the Court of Appeal confirmed the right of the plaintiffs in a proposed class action to have contact with potential class members in order to obtain information that would assist in the prosecution of the action. That 2003 published decision, Parris vs. Superior Court (Lowes
HIW) 104 Cal.App.4th 285, became important precedent in California. The second decision by the Court of Appeal came after the trial court had denied the plaintiffs' motion to certify the case as a class action. Bradley said at that point, the case was dead--we lost. But, on appeal, Not only did the Court of Appeal reverse the decision by the trial court but, in an unusual move, rather than ordering the lower court to reconsider the issue, actually ordered that the case be granted class certification status.

The period to file a claim in this suit has passed but there is still a possibility to file a late claim.
If you worked as an hourly employee for Lowes during the last 11 years and have not already file a claim in this law suit, you can call Marlin & Saltzman, LLP, at 714-669-4900.