Albertsons Workers’ Suit Gains Class Status

A Los Angeles judge granted class-action status Tuesday to a lawsuit brought by former employees of Albertsons Inc. who claim the Boise, Idaho-based grocery and drugstore operator failed to pay departing workers promptly, as required by California law.

The 11 plaintiffs in the suit, filed in September 2000, are seeking penalties of one day’s pay for each day that their paychecks were delayed, up to 30 days. The suit covers former employees of Albertsons and chains it acquired when it purchased American Stores Co. in 1999 -- Lucky Stores Inc. and Sav-on drugstores. Lucky stores have since been converted to Albertsons.

Robert Cantore, a Los Angeles lawyer for the workers, said as many as 118,000 former Albertsons, Sav-on and Lucky employees would now be able to seek similar penalties. He said notices would be sent to California workers who either quit or were fired from those three chains between 1996 and 2003, inviting them to join the suit.

The lawsuit, certified as a class action by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Morris B. Jones, accuses Albertsons and the two chains of routinely failing to issue paychecks to employees on their last day of work, Cantore said.

“It’s cheaper not to,” he said. “As low as interest rates are, they still get to use the money for five or 10 days.”

An Albertsons spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit. A trial date hasn’t been set.