Labor Law Violation results in a nearly $10M settlement 

On Nov. 2, 2022, attorneys Kevin Stoops, Jason Thompson and Jesse Young secured a nearly $10 million settlement for 2,574 hourly managers across the nation employed by home improvement giant, Lowe’s Home Centers LLC.

Stoops

The managers alleged the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay them regular wages and overtime compensation for work performed outside of their shifts. 

Thompson

The lawsuit was first filed in April 2019 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and later included 19 more class actions filed in other federal courts across the country. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ultimately consolidated the cases in the Western District of North Carolina. Another 184 hourly managers pursued their claims in individual arbitration proceedings nationwide. 

According to plaintiffs’ attorneys, the managers alleged that Lowe’s withheld compensation for “off-the-clock” work done when opening and closing stores and performing exterior perimeter sweeps. The employees claimed these tasks constituted compensable work above 40 hours per week, which they deserved time-and-a-half pay for according to the Fair Labor Standards Act and various state wage and hour laws. 

The litigation required extensive discovery, including hundreds of written interrogatories, more than 200 depositions, multiple mediations, and 11 arbitration hearings.  

Aside from the large monetary settlement, Lowe’s agreed to make changes to its timekeeping system and compensation policies, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional compensation to hourly managers throughout the U.S. that took effect in September 2020. 

The settlement totaled at $9,950,000, which consists of approximately $7,450,000 from multidistrict litigation settlement and $2,500,000 from arbitration awards.

Young

Type of Action: Class action; FLSA and State Labor Law Violations 

Injuries alleged: Unpaid Overtime Compensation 

Name of case: Danford et al. v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC 

Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina 

Case Number: 5:19-cv-00041 

Name of Judge: Hon. Kenneth D. Bell 

Verdict, Settlement, Judgment, 

Or Arbitration/Mediation Award: Settlement and Arbitration Awards 

Amount: $9,950,000: Approximately $7,450,000 from the multidistrict litigation settlement and approximately $2,500,000 from arbitration awards 

Date of Verdict or Settlement: Nov. 2, 2022 

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff: Kevin Stoops, Jason Thompson, and Jesse Young – 

Sommers Schwartz, PC, Southfield, MI 

Attorney(s) for Defendant: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP