Workers to Get $10M in Overtime and Break Pay

According to the settlement agreement, Fastenal denies any liability or wrongdoing of any kind. The settlement amount includes all wages, damages, penalties, liquidated damages, interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs, including settlement-administration costs.

According to an Associated Press report, an estimate made in October by an attorney for the plaintiffs indicated more than 2,000 current and former employees of the industrial supplies seller may have been entitled to back pay from as far back as 2003.

On October 18, 2007, two former assistant general managers filed a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of themselves and all other employees similarly situated, the court document said. The former employees alleged that Fastenal violated the FLSA and the wage-and-hour laws of the states of California and Pennsylvania by misclassifying them as exempt employees and failing to pay them overtime wages.

The complaint also alleged violation of California law by failing to provide meal and rest breaks.

In December 2007, charges that Fastenal violated Oregon law by failing to pay overtime wages, failing to pay wages upon separation, and failing to provide proper meal and rest breaks were added to the suit. In August 2008, New York state law violations were added to the complaint.

The settlement agreement in Calhoun v. Fastenal Company is here .