Hockey Equipment Co. Bauer Failed to Pay Employees Who Worked During 2020 Furlough, Lawsuit Alleges

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A lawsuit alleges Bauer Hockey knew or should have known that a number of its employees, including those who work directly with NHL and AHL teams and players, were working without pay while on furlough from the hockey equipment manufacturer last year yet nevertheless failed to pay their wages. 

The 18-page proposed class and collective action was brought in New Hampshire by a Pennsylvania Bauer employee responsible for a geographic territory covering 12 professional hockey teams spanning the NHL and AHL with a total of 276 active-roster athletes. The plaintiff claims Bauer knew or should have known certain employees, including those on its Elite Athlete Services Team, were working without pay during the furlough, imposed from April 13 through June 8, 2020, given non-furloughed Bauer managers and/or supervisors directed, prompted or otherwise caused furloughed employees to complete work; that managers and/or supervisors were on notice that furloughed employees were receiving and responding to business-related communications; and that managers and/or supervisors arranged for and held Zoom meetings with furloughed employees to discuss business-related topics and strategies. 

Bauer is alleged in the suit to have run afoul of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New Hampshire labor law. 

According to the complaint, Bauer furloughed a number of employees in April 2020 in response to the purported impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business. During the furlough, which employees were given notice of in an April 8 letter, Bauer’s Elite Athletes Services Team, which is responsible for working with professional NHL and AHL teams and athletes to market, sell and promote Bauer’s equipment, and other departments continued business operations, the case relays. Per the suit, at least six Elite Athlete Services Team (EAS) employees were furloughed last year, and Bauer workers were told via letter that they “should not perform work for [Bauer]” during the furlough period. 

The lawsuit relays that individuals on the Elite Athlete Services Team are assigned to geographic territories, such that employees are responsible for working with the NHL and AHL teams and athletes within a specified region. Teams in the NHL and AHL typically have 23 athletes on their active rosters, and EAS Team members, according to the suit, are tasked with interacting directly with athletes and team reps to, among other duties, arrange for team equipment orders and handle contractual relationships with athletes on behalf of Bauer.

The lawsuit says that Bauer employees were restricted from using their company email address and accessing Bauer’s electronic systems while furloughed. Bauer is alleged to have instructed furloughed workers to back up their business contacts on their work phones, which Bauer continued to pay for during the furlough, per the suit.

Upon information and belief, the reason Bauer continued to provide furloughed employees with cell phone service was to allow the workers to continue working and ensure that business-related communications to furloughed employees did not go unaddressed during the furlough, the case claims. 

“Plaintiff was, and the similarly situated employees Plaintiff seeks to represent were, furloughed by Bauer during the Furlough Period and not compensated for work completed for Bauer’s benefit during the Furlough Period,” the lawsuit says, alleging Bauer has not maintained records of the actual time worked by furloughed employees during the furloughed period.

According to the case, the plaintiff’s Bauer territory included the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and New York Rangers.

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