11:42 PM, Dec. 14, 2011
Written by
Eric LitkeA lawsuit alleging Kohler Co. allowed employees to work off the clock was granted class action status this week, meaning as many as 140 current and former administrative employees could join the federal lawsuit.
The suit - first filed in September 2009 - alleges Kohler Co. stopped paying administrative employees for overtime while still requiring the same workload, meaning employees at times had to work during unpaid breaks or after hours to complete their work. A federal judge on Monday ruled that the eight current and former employees who have joined the case so far established their situations were sufficiently similar for class action status.
Kohler Co. claimed in court filings that employees were told not to work beyond their 40-hour workweek but were not told overtime would be unpaid. The judge's ruling, however, noted that Wisconsin's Wage Law requires companies to pay employees for time worked regardless of whether it was approved.
"Just because Kohler has a policy disallowing overtime does not negate the company's obligation to pay its employees for work they perform to complete their assigned duties," Larry Johnson, one of the attorneys representing lead plaintiff Jennifer Vang, said in a statement.
Receiving the class action designation means all 140 employees are now part of the lawsuit unless they choose to opt out. Before this point, only eight employees had chosen to opt in to the action initiated by Vang.
Vang, who worked for Kohler from May 2003 to October 2007, said in court filings that a memo was sent in August 2006 stating that Kohler would no longer allow overtime pay. She said her workload was unchanged so she continued to work overtime hours and would then ask her supervisor if she could claim the hours on her weekly timecard. She got approval only on projects for which overtime had been preapproved.
A spokeswoman for the Kohler Co. declined to comment, saying it is a pending legal matter.
Johnson said Kohler can be ordered to pay double the amount of unpaid compensation, meaning damages could total hundreds of thousands of dollars. The lawsuit can include all current or former administrative workers employed since September 2007.
Kohler Co. argued in court that the cases should be tried separately since they involve different supervisors, but Judge William Callahan said whether the individual supervisors knew overtime was being worked without pay is irrelevant.
"Based on the language of Wisconsin's Wage Law, the plaintiffs need only demonstrate that they worked uncompensated overtime on the employer's premises to create a presumption that the employer knew or should have known about the additional work time," Callahan said in his decision.
Whether Kohler knew or should have known of the unpaid hours will be determined at trial, Callahan said.
Nola Hitchcock Cross, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said class action status is crucial because employees often fear retaliation and are hesitant to pursue their rights. She said the lawsuit will hopefully send a message to other employers using similar practices.
"I think this is very common, and I think that a lot of employers expect to be able to get away with it. Also a lot of employers are just more tempted because of the recession," Hitchcock Cross said. "What I hope it will convey is that employees should step up. They're protected, their jobs are protected under the law and their rights are protected."
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20111215/SHE0101/112150384/Kohler-Co-faces-class-action-lawsuit?odyssey=mod%7Cdefcon%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Topic: Kohler Co. faces class action lawsuit (Read 800 times)