Overtime Suit Against Mervyn’s Upgraded

A lawsuit accusing Mervyn’s Department Store of coercing low-level managers in California into working overtime without extra pay has been granted class-action status. Orange County Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald confirmed an earlier ruling on the complaint, which was filed a year ago by Donald Priestly, who worked at Mervyn’s stores in Mission Viejo and Irvine. The lawsuit seeks millions of dollars in back wages on behalf of 3,000 hourly-paid managers who worked at the stores in the state during the past four years. It is scheduled to go to trial in December. Mervyn’s parent company, Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson Corp., is also named as a defendant.