A federal jury ordered Wal-Mart to pay more than $54 million to a group of truck drivers in California who claimed they weren’t paid the minimum wage for such tasks as inspecting their vehicles.
On Nov. 23, a jury for the U.S. Court for the Northern District of California decided Wal-Mart failed to pay hundreds of its truck drivers at least minimum wage for pre- and post-trip inspections, 10-minute rest breaks and 10-hour layovers.
The jury awarded the drivers in the class-action suit $44,699,766 for the layover time, $5,942,440 for the inspections and $3,961,975 for the rest breaks. The jury concluded Wal-Mart failed to pay class members minimum wage for 103,221 pay periods from Oct. 10, 2007 to Oct. 15, 2015.
Truck drivers at Wal-Mart are paid by the mile, not by the hour.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2008. Wal-Mart has contended that its truck drivers are paid for inspections and that drivers aren’t working during layovers.
Attorneys for the more than 800 drivers in the class-action lawsuit were seeking $72 million in damages.
