News Notes: “Exempt” Drugstore Managers Sue For Millions In Unpaid Overtime

Rite Aid Corp. has been slapped with a class action lawsuit claiming that as many as 1,600 managers and assistant managers at approximately 800 drugstores in California were improperly classified as exempt from overtime. The employees charge that Rite Aid put pressure on managers to deny overtime to hourly clerks and, as a result, managers had to put in 72- to 100-hour weeks performing mostly nonexempt tasks – including stocking shelves, scooping ice cream and ringing up sales. The employees’ attorney, James S. Davis, says damages could top $100 million if the employees succeed. Rite Aid refused to comment on the lawsuit.