Class action lawsuit filed against Publix

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A class action lawsuit has been filed against the supermarket chain Publix.

Approximately 18 former managers at Publix have joined together to allege that they were not paid for overtime.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida where the chain is headquartered by attorneys Gregg Shavitz and Ryan Morgan of Florida.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are from Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. 

One of the plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit, Christopher Roberts, worked for Publix locations as an assistant department manager here in Chattanooga and in Cleveland.

 The act referenced in the lawsuit against Publix is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938.

It sets forward a series of guidelines that employers must follow in their treatment of employees.

Under the FLSA, the plaintiffs allege that they worked off-the-clock both inside and outside of their stories.

They claimed that they helped with various tasks related to keeping the store running both before and after their shifts.

One issue brought forward is that the managers testify that while they were clocked out for meal breaks, they were still burdened with work tasks.

This extended according to the lawsuit when they were at home as well doing work tasks during off hours.

The lawsuit charges that Publix required managers to work in this manner to control labor costs.

Under FLSA guidelines, employees who work over 40 hours a week are required to be paid at least a time and a half for overtime pay.

These former managers estimated that they worked three to five hours a week of unpaid overtime.

The lawsuit seeks to recoup what these plaintiffs believe is lost pay and other damages.

One of the lawyers in this case, Gregg Shavitz who was unavailable for an interview but did send a statement, said quote, 

 “Every year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, American workers lose as much as $50 billion per year to wage theft. Our clients have experienced something many workers face as we all become reachable on our phones at any time of day or night — that companies expect employees to be in constant communication but fail to track this time worked. It’s unacceptable to force hourly workers to work outside of their shifts and to not pay workers for their time. We believe that the assistant department managers’ allegations only scratch the surface of Publix off-the-clock conditions. We will work to uncover all the evidence about the extent of these alleged harmful practices in order to hold Publix accountable and recover every possible dollar of these workers’ rightfully earned money.”

News 12 did reach out to Publix for comment on this story.

We have not received a response from them at this time.