Saputo Cheese Cheated California Workers Out of Proper Pay, Class Action Alleges

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According to the lawsuit, Saputo violated several facets of California’s labor laws by failing to provide employees at its cheese processing facilities with proper minimum and overtime wages, reporting time pay, off-duty meal and rest periods, reimbursement for business expenses, accurate and itemized wage statements, and all wages due during employment and upon separation.

The plaintiff, who worked as a non-exempt employee in the defendant’s production department between February 2006 and June 2019, claims Saputo maintained a “consistent policy” of depriving workers of minimum and overtime wages by requiring them to work off the clock during meal periods and after their shifts. Per the complaint, the defendant failed to pay workers in accordance with the California Labor Code’s overtime and double time mandates despite having the individuals work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, or more than 12 hours per day or in excess of eight hours per day on the seventh day of the week.

Moreover, the case claims Saputo deprived workers of reporting time pay when they showed up for a scheduled shift and were assigned less than half of their usual day’s work.

The plaintiff further alleges he and other workers were not provided with statutory, uninterrupted 30-minute meal breaks and 10-minute rest periods given they were “on duty” during supposed break time. According to the complaint, workers were required to keep a radio on their person at all times and were regularly interrupted during breaks. Saputo failed to compensate employees for any meal breaks or rest periods that were missed or interrupted, the suit claims.

The lawsuit goes on to allege workers were not reimbursed for using their personal automobiles for work-related purposes or provided with accurate and itemized wage statements in accordance with the California Labor Code.

The case, which has been removed to federal court in California, looks to certify a proposed class of all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for Saputo Cheese in California anytime between April 6, 2016 and the date of trial, with several proposed subclasses.

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