Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP and Lear Werts LLP have filed a lawsuit on behalf of current and former Hy-Vee salaried employees who worked at Hy-Vee stores nationwide, challenging the company-wide policy and practice of denying wages and overtime pay to department manager trainees working in its grocery stores. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks to recover unpaid wages and overtime on behalf of all employees who were classified as salaried non-exempt.

The lawsuit alleges that Hy-Vee fails to pay department managers and salaried non-exempt employees for all the hours they worked. The lawsuit also alleges Hy-Vee misclassified its department managers as exempt from federal overtime laws. Plaintiff alleges that department managers spend the majority of their time performing tasks such as stocking, cleaning, assisting customers, and maintaining customer service standards - all of which are non-exempt tasks.

The lawsuit also alleges that Hy-Vee fails to pay its salaried non-exempt employees for all hours worked and further misapplied the fluctuating workweek method of payment.  The lawsuit alleges that Hy-Vee does not accurately record the hours worked by its salaried non-exempt employees and further did not have a clear, mutual understanding with its salaried non-exempt employees regarding the way their pay would be calculated. 

Plaintiffs allege that Hy-Vee's policies and practices violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and affects employees nationwide. Additionally, Plaintiffs allege Hy-Vee's policies and practices violate the Missouri Minimum Wage Law. On behalf of employees in Missouri, the lawsuit includes a claim for unjust enrichment because, as Plaintiffs allege, Hy-Vee benefited from the unpaid work performed by its department managers and salaried non-exempt employees.

The lawsuit seeks nationwide collective action status for all salaried non-exempt employees and department managers employed by Hy-Vee who were classified as either exempt from the overtime laws (meaning they were never paid overtime no matter how many hours worked) or salaried, non-exempt (meaning they were paid a set salary, but did receive some overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week). The lawsuit also seeks certification of a class of Missouri employees and who worked in stores within the State of Missouri in the last five years.

Click here to view the Complaint.

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If you worked at Hy-Vee as either a salaried non-exempt employee or as a salaried department manager within the last three years at any Hy-Vee store nationwide, you may be eligible to join this lawsuit.  If you would like more information or have questions, please contact us by filling out the form below.