Wal-Mart Managers Can’t Sue as a Class

A federal judge has ruled that 2,750 current and former assistant managers for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in California can’t sue as a group on claims that the retailer improperly denied them overtime pay and meal breaks.

U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer in Los Angeles last week refused to grant the workers’ request to proceed as a classaction lawsuit. The case, filed in 2004, claims that the managers performed non-managerial tasks and were improperly classified as exempt from overtime pay. Fischer said that each manager’s claims would have to be examined separately and that the case failed to meet all requirements of a class action.

The ruling is a victory for Wal-Mart, which was ordered in December to pay $172.3 million to California workers in a separate class action over meal breaks and faces 10 federal and 50 state cases claiming that workers were denied regular and overtime pay. Class actions are more efficient for plaintiffs and give them leverage in settlement talks.

“We’re disappointed with the outcome. We think it’s contrary to California law,” said Robert Drexler, an attorney for the workers. He was considering whether to appeal.

A Wal-Mart attorney did not return a message seeking comment.

Under California law, workers who spend at least half their time on managerial duties that require them to exercise discretion and independent judgment are exempt from overtime pay rules. The assistant managers at Wal-Mart claim that their titles don’t reflect the non-managerial work they do, including operating the cash register.

Fischer said that although the workers had met some requirements for class certification, whether each spent more than half of his or her time doing non-managerial tasks would have to be assessed case by case.