Home Depot Suit Gets Class Status

Home Depot assistant managers in California as a class can sue the home improvement retailer for unpaid overtime, a Riverside County Superior Court judge has ruled.

A trial on the merits of the case -- three lawsuits consolidated into one in Riverside -- is set for next year.

The lawsuit claims that Home Depot Inc. routinely made employees with the title of merchandising assistant store manager work at least 55 hours a week and often more. It claims that the managers regularly performed the same tasks as hourly co-workers, who are eligible for overtime pay.

The class potentially includes more than 2,000 people who worked in Home Depot’s 186 California stores in July 1997 or later. Damages could total more than $100 million, attorneys for the plaintiffs estimate.

Calls to Home Depot were not returned.