Polo Ralph Lauren Settles Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against It In California For Alleged Wage & Hour and Overtime Pay Violations For $4,000,000.
A $4 million class action settlement between Polo Ralph Lauren employees in California who claimed in a class action lawsuit that defendants Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, Polo Retail, LLC, Polo Retail Corporation, and Fashions Outlet of America (styled Ann Otsuka; Janis Keefe; Corinne Phipps; and Renee Davis v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation et al., Case No. C 07-02780 SI) failed to pay them all of the wages due to them including overtime wages, has been preliminarily approved by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco federal court, according to class action settlement news reports.
The Polo Ralph Lauren class action lawsuit reportedly alleged that Polo Ralph Lauren failed to pay certain employees (sales associates or cashiers) all the overtime pay and wages due to them by failing to provide rest breaks, failing to pay employees for off-the-clock time spent inside the stores for loss-prevention inspections (i.e. bag checks for stolen merchandise), improperly classifying all sales associates as commission salespeople who are exempt from premium overtime compensation, and improperly using an arrears program in which sales associates who did not meet minimum commission requirements were subject to reduced earnings on future commissions above the minimum requirements.
The Polo Ralph Lauren class action settlement reportedly provides that if the class action settlement is approved by the court, about 6,700 Polo Ralph Lauren employees will receive an application to share in the class action settlement.
If You Have Thoughts On The Polo Ralph Lauren Overtime & Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, Share Your Settlement Comments Below.
I wish I had more information on how to receive an application. I was an employee for 3 years at the Location in Vacaville. I in fact, was a visual merchandiser who often put in many hours unpaid overtime. Please let me know….
I also worked for a Polo Ralph Lauren outlet in Caralsbad located in San Diego California. I worked from November 2006-2008. I also worked getting ready for inspections and inventory.
Employees would work their shifts and the management would clock us out at 9pm when the store was closed. Myself and other employees would continue to work until we left the next day at around 6am.
They would adjust our work time on our time cards. I was working part time at that time with a friends named Vivian and Maria GONZALEZ. I always stayed for exta hours. We always had to wait around for the managers to come to the front door to check our bags.
If we purchased something they would go though our purses before we could leave for the night. I still recall when we (employees of the store) were off the schedule and had to be walked out if we purchase something or not.
The store managers still checked my purse and directed other employees and myself to leave the store through one door. Employees had to purchase their uniforms which consisted of seven (7) shirts and seven (7) pants.
All employees of the store had to wear the stores logo always. I don’t know what has become of this lawsuit but since then my address has changed. My friends, Maria and Vivian GONZALEZ, have advised me they have received settlement checks from the lawsuit. Most of my former friends/former Polo Ralp Lauren employees were working less hours then me.
If you know anything please e-mail me at ana40_3@yahoo.com. Sincerely, Ana Ortiz
I worked for the San Francisco store, and had the # 1 sales book in women’s collections. We rarely took a lunch break, because they pitted us against each other for top sales. They made us buy, all of the new looks, which they would deduct out of our pay. If we didn’t they frowned upon us and were on us like hounds. Every one was bullied. They even bullied employees about joining the lawsuit. It was just known that you would be fired if you did.