Alexander T. Ricke

Alex Ricke advocates for individuals and companies when their livelihoods are on the line. Named one of Law360's 2022 “Rising Stars” for Employment, which honors the top legal talent under the age of 40, Alex has a track record of success representing workers, small businesses and individuals against some of the largest companies in the country.

Alex focuses his practice on three primary areas:

Wage and Hour and Employment. Alex has been co-lead counsel in scores of wage and hour cases around the country. Alex has built a reputation for his work representing tipped and minimum wage workers at casinos. He has successfully secured settlements worth more than $65 million for these workers, including serving as:

• Co-lead counsel in a $12.5 million settlement of tip credit notice claims for minimum wage workers at two MGM casinos.
• Co-lead counsel in a $9.8 million settlement of tip credit notice claims for minimum wage workers at three Rush Street Gaming casinos (representing 104% of unpaid minimum wages).
• Co-lead counsel in a $6 million settlement of wage and hour claims for workers at Wind Creek casino.
• Co-lead counsel in $5.5 million settlement of wage and hour claims for tipped workers at Rivers Casino Schenectady.
• Co-lead counsel in a $3.05 million settlement of wage and hour claims for workers at Live! Casino.
• Co-lead counsel in a $2.1 million settlement of wage and hour claims for workers at Tropicana Evansville casino.
• Co-lead counsel in a $1.3 million settlement of wage and hour claims for workers at Lumiere casino.

Alex is currently advocating on behalf of traveling nurses against staffing companies for “bait-and-switch” pay reduction tactics; healthcare workers who are not paid for all hours worked at Envision Healthcare; and female and minority financial advisors against Edward Jones for wage and opportunity discrimination.

Class Actions. Alex has prosecuted class actions for victims of data breaches, anticompetitive practices, and dangerous and defective products.

Most recently, Alex worked as the lead associate and case manager in securing a settlement worth more than $56 million for Jackson County and a certified class of Missouri counties seeking the cost of removing and replacing Trinity Industries’ 4-inch ET Plus guardrail end terminal from Missouri roads. These devices had been removed from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s approved product list and were linked to serious injuries and death at the time Jackson County filed its lawsuit in 2015. Missouri Lawyers Media recognized this result as a top three settlement in the State of Missouri in 2022.

Commercial Litigation. Alex represents plaintiffs—often entrepreneurs or small businesses—in all kinds of commercial disputes. Alex recently represented an executive at a startup for unpaid sales commissions for ongoing business in connection with his departure from the company and severance. Alex successfully settled the case and preserved the client’s shares of the company, which were worth several hundred thousand dollars when the company was acquired several months later.

Alex has been named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” each year since 2016. Prior to joining Stueve Siegel Hanson, he practiced at a boutique complex litigation firm, where he prosecuted business and class action cases nationwide. A transplant from St. Louis, he enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons, and two Labrador Retrievers, traveling, and supporting the Missouri Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, and Kansas City Chiefs.

News

Experience

Current Cases

Defective Guardrail End Terminal Litigation, Circuit Court of Jackson County:  Alex is part of a team serving as class counsel for Jackson County, Missouri and a certified class of government entities seeking to recoup the cost of removing and replacing defective and dangerous end terminals from the manufacturer.

Casino Wage and Hour Litigation, Multiple Jurisdictions:  Alex is co-lead counsel in four cases challenging habitual wage and hour violations by casinos and hospitality companies for a variety of wage and hour issues, including failure to provide a tip credit notice before paying a sub-minimum wage, failure to include the tip credit in the regular rate of pay for overtime, permitting managers and supervisors’ participation in tip pools, deducting gaming licenses from employees’ wages, and improper timeclock rounding.

Equal Pay Act Litigation, Finefrock, et al. v. Five Guys Operations, LLC, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania: In a groundbreaking case, Alex obtained conditional collective certification of a group of female General Managers and Assistant General Managers at Five Guys’ corporate-owned restaurants under the Equal Pay Act alleging that our clients and other women were paid less than their male colleagues. See Finefrock v. Five Guys Operations, LLC, 2018 WL 4599584 (M.D. Pa. Sept. 25, 2018).

Executive Severance Arbitration: Alex currently represents a former executive at a Fortune 1000 company seeking to recover unpaid severance benefits following a change in control.

Recent Litigation Highlights

Confidential FLSA Collective Action Settlement with Fortune 500 Hospitality Company, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri:  Alex was co-lead counsel for approximately 14,000 table games dealers and other tipped employees for violations of the FLSA stemming from failure to provide tip credit notice, failure to include the value of the tip credit in the regular rate of pay for overtime, and timeclock rounding.  After defeating a motion to dismiss, briefing class certification, and briefing summary judgment, the case was successfully resolved as a collective action. 

DIRECTV Wage and Hour Litigation, Multiple Jurisdictions: Alex was part of the litigation team asserting violations of the FLSA and state wage laws against DIRECTV and associated entities on behalf of satellite installation technicians across more than 50 federal cases. In these cases challenging DIRECTV’s fissured employment structure (i.e., engaging independent contractors through intermediaries and denying the employment relationship) and failure to pay minimum wage and overtime, he deposed approximately 30 current and former DIRECTV managers.  Parachuting into these cases as needed, Alex also successfully argued several motions in jurisdictions around the country.  The cases were successfully resolved in 2018.

Confidential FLSA Collective Action Settlement with Fortune 1000 Hospitality Company, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri: Alex was co-lead counsel for approximately 4,000 table games dealers and other tipped employees for violations of the FLSA stemming from failure to provide tip credit notice, failure to include the value of the tip credit in the regular rate of pay for overtime, and timeclock rounding.  While class certification was pending, the case was successfully resolved as a collective action.

Confidential Executive Departure Settlement:  Alex and George Hanson represented an executive at a Kansas City-based tech start-up for unpaid sales commissions following the client’s departure from the company.  They successfully negotiated a pre-suit resolution for the client and successfully retained the client’s vested shares in the company, which had a significant valuation when the startup was acquired shortly thereafter.

Data Breach Class Action Settlement, Hapka v. CareCentrix, Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas: Along with Barrett Vahle, Alex had day-to-day management responsibility for this data breach class action alleging that CareCentrix was negligent in permitting its 2015 W-2 Forms to be released to a third-party fraudster in a “spoofing” attack.  After successfully defending against a motion to dismiss and an attempt to engage in absent class member discovery, Plaintiff reached a class action settlement with CareCentrix that was granted final approval in February 2018.  In approving the settlement, the Court found it “reflects an outstanding result for the Class in a case with a significant level of risk” and that the “relief compares very favorably to settlements in other data breach class actions.” Hapka v. CareCentrix, Inc., 2018 WL 1871449, at *4 (D. Kan. Feb. 15, 2018)

Background Check and Overtime Class Action Settlement, Criddell v. Premier Healthcare Services, LLC, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Alex prosecuted this case from inception through approval of the class and collective action offer of judgment.  The Plaintiff asserted claims for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FLSA, and California Labor Code against a home healthcare provider.  In February 2017, the Court certified the FCRA claim as a class action and conditionally certified the FLSA claim as a collective action.  In March 2017, Plaintiff accepted a Rule 68 offer of judgment for $247,854 for the FCRA class ($101 per class member with checks mailed directly to class members without the need to submit a claim form) and complete overtime damages to the FLSA collective (like the FCRA class, checks were mailed to directly to FLSA collective members without the need to submit a claim form).  On behalf of our firm and co-counsel, Alex also recovered a significant attorneys’ fee award separate from and in addition to the class and collective recoveries through a vehemently contested arbitration of the issue, which was then adopted and approved by the Court in January 2018.

Defective Product Litigation Against a Major Automotive Manufacturer, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California:  Alex coordinated the litigation team that, in April 2016, secured final approval of a nationwide settlement between a class of owners and lessees of approximately 800,000 class vehicles and a major automotive manufacturer.  The lawsuit stemmed from allegations that the steering system in the class vehicles was defective and caused the vehicles to “wander” at highway speeds.  The settlement followed extensive written and deposition discovery where Alex deposed five corporate executives.  The settlement relief provided cash refunds or repairs to class members who made claims.

Confidential Commercial Litigation Settlement, Confidential Jurisdiction: Alex was part of the litigation team that filed a lawsuit on behalf of a bank holding company against a major bank holding company and one of its subsidiaries.  The litigation arose out of a merger agreement between the parties whereby Defendants agreed to purchase Alex’s client.  However, the merger failed to obtain regulatory approval due to Defendants’ actions in another market in violation of federal regulations.  After defeating a motion to dismiss and engaging in discovery, the case was successfully resolved and the purchase agreement was completed.

Antitrust Class Action Settlement, Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri:   Alex was a part of the litigation team that, in November 2015, secured final approval of a $3,500,000 settlement between a certified class of Missouri citizens who had purchased milk and cream products and Defendant.  The lawsuit stemmed from one of Defendant’s programs whereby Defendant incentivized member farmers to cull their cattle herds, which artificially increased the price of milk and dairy products in Missouri in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.  The case was settled following class certification, denial of a writ related to class certification, and argument on summary judgment.

Honors & Recognitions

Law360 Rising Star, Employment Law, 2022

Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2016-2022

Missouri Lawyers Media No. 3 Top Settlement of 2022 for $56 million reached in Jackson County v. Trinity Industries Inc.

Community & Professional

The Missouri Bar

The Illinois State Bar Association

The Kansas Bar Association

Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys

Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association

The Mizzou Alumni Association

Professional Organizations

Illinois State Bar

The Missouri Bar

Kansas Bar Association

Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association