Coca-Cola Beverages Florida Hit with FMLA, Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit

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A proposed class action lawsuit removed from state court to Florida’s Southern District details allegations from two named plaintiffs who claim defendant Coca-Cola Beverages Florida failed to pay proper wages and violated the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

One named plaintiff, who the suit says worked for the defendant from March 2015 through November 2018, claims she requested intermittent leave under the FMLA from April through October 2018 to tend to her ill father. The lawsuit says that although the defendant approved the plaintiff’s request, the woman was issued a write-up in May 2018 for failing to hit her benchmarks for signing up new accounts. The plaintiff further claims that her colleagues not on FMLA leave received no write-ups during this time despite their supposed failure to hit at least 17 new monthly accounts.

The plaintiff was placed on 90-day probation after receiving her first write-up, the lawsuit says. During her probation, the woman allegedly received several more write-ups for failing to hit her monthly goals before she was terminated in November 2018. According to the lawsuit, the defendant’s reason for firing the plaintiff was “merely pretextual,” and was retaliation for requesting FMLA leave.

With regard to the plaintiffs’ wage and hour allegations, the lawsuit says the plaintiffs respectively worked 52 and a half and 57 and a half hours per week without proper pay. The case claims the workers were misclassified by Coca-Cola Beverages Florida as exempt from overtime pay.