$40M Returned to Hourly-Paid Wal-Mart Employees in State’s Largest Wage and Hour Settlement
Current and former Massachusetts Wal-Mart employees will receive $40 million in unpaid wages from the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. This class-action wage and hour lawsuit is the largest in the history of the Bay State.
The cause of the wage lawsuit, which appears pervasive in the company by the numerous wage and hour lawsuits settled last year in December (read the Tennessee Law Blog’s coverage of last year’s Wal-Mart wage settlement) was the company’s denial of rest and meal breaks, refusal to pay overtime, and the manipulation of time cards to lower employees’ pay.
As many as 87,500 employees will receive a payment of between $400 and $2,500, the average check being for $734. Any Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club employee paid wages between working in the period between August 1995 and December 2009 is entitled to payment.
Earlier in this year, Wal-Mart settled another Massachusetts wage violation lawsuit for $3 million for violating the state’s meal break policies. The MA attorney general pursued the lawsuit after Wal-Mart workers reported being denied meal breaks or having meal breaks cut short.
This settlement dwarfs those of similar settled class actions against Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has denied all allegations of improper pay policies, though the retailer has paid $640 million to settle 63 federal and state class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits. The Massachusetts agreement brings the total wage-and-hour lawsuit settlements to nearly $900 million.
Prior to this settlement, Massachusetts’ largest wage-and-hour settlement was $14.5 million in 2008 in a tip lawsuit against Canyon Ranch whose Lenox spa was accused of not passing along gratuities to workers.
Author Bio
Jim Higgins, founder of the Higgins Firm, is a seasoned personal injury attorney with deep roots in Nashville, Tennessee. A 4th generation Nashvillian, Jim carries on the legal legacy of his father, a judge for over 30 years. After graduating from the University of Memphis School of Law, Jim’s career began on the other side of the courtroom, defending insurance companies and learning their tactics for minimizing settlements. However, he soon realized his true calling was fighting for the rights of the injured, and for the past several years, he has exclusively represented plaintiffs in personal injury cases.
Since then, his dedication and skill have earned him membership in the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization limited to attorneys who have secured million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for their clients. Licensed to practice in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, Jim focuses on personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice, and workers’ compensation cases. His exceptional work has been recognized by his peers, earning him a spot on the Super Lawyers list from 2021 to 2024, a distinction awarded to only a select group of accomplished attorneys in each state.
