Massachusetts Pharmacist Claims CVS Owes Unpaid Wages, Overtime

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A former CVS pharmacy manager claims in a proposed class action that she was often forced to work beyond her assigned weekly hours without being paid.

Filed against CVS Pharmacy, Inc. and its president, the 45-page lawsuit out of Massachusetts explains that at all times during the plaintiff’s employment, which ended in August 2019, CVS Pharmacy budgeted a set number of hours to be worked each week by each store’s pharmacists. The budgeted hours were divided among the pharmacists such that each employee had an assigned number of hours to average on a weekly basis over a two- or three-week schedule, the case says.

The plaintiff claims that although she was never assigned more than an average of 40 hours per week, the schedule allowed her to work more than 40 hours during certain weeks. According to the case, if a pharmacist worked more than 44 hours in a week, he or she would be paid at CVS’s overtime rate, which the suit claims did not align with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s time-and-a-half overtime rate.

The plaintiff says that CVS, “on at least two occasions,” credited her weekly overtime hours across a two- to three-week period instead of counting the time toward the week in which they were earned, thereby depriving her of the pharmacy’s overtime rate.

The suit further alleges that the plaintiff was often forced to work additional hours outside her weekly average allotment due to the volume of prescriptions that needed to be filled at her store. Although she requested approval of the additional hours, she was denied on “numerous occasions,” the case says, and generally advised to “find a way to get her work done within her assigned hours.” The plaintiff believes she worked at least four extra hours per week for which she was not paid.

Moreover, the suit claims the plaintiff typically put in an additional two unpaid hours per week to work on scheduling assignments from home and was required to participate in meetings that lasted up to a day long for which she received no pay. The case additionally claims that the plaintiff was denied premium pay for work performed on Sundays and holidays in accordance with Massachusetts law.

According to the case, CVS was aware that the plaintiff was working additional unpaid hours, yet refused to pay proper minimum, overtime, and premium pay.

Aside from the lawsuit’s class action claims, the plaintiff alleges individually that she was unlawfully terminated in August 2019 without a “fair and complete” investigation in accordance with CVS policy.

Originally filed in Massachusetts superior court, the lawsuit has been removed to federal court.