News in Brief October 20 – Bed Bath & Beyond, Fiat Chrysler and More

Former Bed Bath & Beyond Managers File Overtime Pay Class Action

Former Bed Bath & Beyond employees who were classified as managers have filed a proposed class action saying they were denied overtime pay due to the retailer’s practice of applying the “fluctuating workweek” wage model. To truly fall under the fluctuating workweek model, employees’ schedules must vary from week to week while they receive a fixed salary and half-time overtime for each hour worked over 50 in a week. The ex-workers’ suit claims they did not meet these standards, as their schedules were relatively the same between weeks. “Consistent with the defendant’s policy and pattern or practices, plaintiffs regularly worked in excess of 40 hours per workweek without being paid at the premium overtime rate [1 and one half] times their respective regular rate of compensation,” the complaint alleges.

InterContinental Hotels Group to Settle Bag Check Case for $1M

A settlement has been reached in a class action against InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) that claimed the lodging chain shorted its California employees on wages owed for time spent in security checks. InterContinental will pay almost $1 million to roughly 1,500 class members who also alleged they were owed compensation for putting on and taking off their work uniforms. Those covered by the settlement include all non-exempt hourly employees who were employed by one of InterContinental’s three hotels between November 2010 and today.

182k Jeep Wranglers Recalled for Faulty Crash Sensors

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 182,000 2016-2017 Jeep Wranglers due to a defective crash sensor that can reportedly malfunction and cause the airbags not to deploy in an accident. The affected vehicles, the NHTSA said, were manufactured between June and August. The agency noted that the positioning of the wiring for the cars’ impact sensor is the main source of the problem. If the headlights were to rotate in an accident, the connection could sever before the sensor is able to process that a crash is taking place, the announcement said. Fiat Chrysler has not yet announced a solution to the problem.

Keyless Entry Suit Against Maserati Runs Out of Gas

A district judge has ruled in favor of Maserati North America Inc. in a proposed class action that claimed certain Ghibli vehicles’ keyless entry systems were dangerous because they could cause children to be locked inside the cars. Maserati’s keyless entry feature allows drivers to unlock car doors without pushing a button. The consumer who filed the suit in May 2016 claimed that, although the feature was supposed to eliminate the risk of locking keys inside the vehicle, his young son managed to lock himself in the car with the engine running and fob inside. The judge overseeing the suit sided with Maserati, noting that the luxury car maker’s owner’s manual very clearly summarizes how the vehicle’s passive keyless entry fob works.