In early January, a Pennsylvania federal judge approved a $4.2 million settlement between Pittsburgh-based grocery chain Giant Eagle and employees who were “team leaders” at its grocery stores and GetGo convenience stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Andrew Fitch et al. v. Giant Eagle Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, team leaders made allegations of misclassification and unpaid overtime in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage laws.
Attorneys will receive $1.4 million of the settlement fund, while nearly 3,000 current and former employees called “team leaders,” “assistant store leaders,” and similar titles will receive up to $1,000 each to settle claims that the grocer had misclassified them as exempt from overtime in violation of federal and state law.
U.S. District Judge Robert Colville approved the unopposed settlement agreement that the workers reached with Giant Eagle during several mediation sessions that started in the spring of 2021. Giant Eagle fiercely defended the suit, denying a misclassification of workers and disputing how many hours workers claimed that they typically worked in excess of a 40-hour workweek.
“The settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and it provides substantial benefit for the plaintiffs,” Judge Colville said. “The narrowly tailored release does not frustrate the FLSA.” Judge Colville administratively closed the case pending the claims administrator’s handling...
A nursing home run by the family of Kim Keon-hee lost the first trial in a lawsuit seeking to cancel the National Health Insurance Service's disposition to claw back about 1.4 billion won in long-...