California Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Wage Theft

A former employee at Guess Retail Inc. has filed an employment class action lawsuit alleging that she was not paid for missed meal breaks and other issues with wage payment.

According to a news report in Lawyers and Settlements, this is the third lawsuit Guess has faced just this year.

The lawsuit was filed by Kriss Burgoss, who was a
non-exempt, hourly employee at the California location.

Serious Allegations

She alleges in the lawsuit that she was required to work without rest breaks and meal breaks and was never compensated. California law requires employers to provide rest breaks and an uninterrupted 30-minute meal period after the fifth hour of duty.

Burgoss and other class members also allege that the employer often extracted additional hours of work time without actually paying them for the extra hours of work done.

Burgoss, who was eventually fired from her job, also accuses Guess of failing to pay her final wages in a timely manner. Under California law, employers must pay final wages to a terminated employee within 72 hours.

Burgoss says not only were her final wages not paid on time, but that they were not paid in full. The plaintiff is seeking class-action status for her California labor code lawsuit on behalf of any similarly affected employees of Guess dating back four years.

What Can You Do?

Wage theft lawsuits usually cover a wide range of violations of state and federal wage and hour laws.

Some of the common examples of such violations include underreported hours, failure to provide overtime pay, not providing the minimum wage required under the law, misclassification of employees, failing to provide overtime pay, stealing the employees’ tips and requiring employees to work through breaks and not compensating them for it.

If you believe your employer is not paying you for hours worked or is making you work illegally without meal breaks or rest breaks, you can file a complaint with state and federal labor authorities.

You can also consult with an experienced California employment lawyer who can advise you regarding how to proceed with a wage theft lawsuit and represent you in negotiations with your employer.

You may be able to receive compensation for lost wages, mental anguish and other losses.