A California judge has handed down a decision that could have been very costly for clothing retailer Wet Seal. The company is facing a wage and hour action that accuses it of not reimbursing its employees properly for out-of-pocket expenses.
The judge declined to allow this case to be certified as a class action. Had that happened, the allegations would have been opened up to something like 12,000 employees.
The suit alleges that Wet Seal forced employees to buy clothing from the chain and did not reimburse them for the cost, and also did not reimburse them when they used their own vehicles to drive from one store location to another on company business.
According to the California Labor and Employment Law blog, the young women’s clothing chain, which has about 500 locations across the country, argued that there is a standing policy of reimbursement for travel expenses. Wet Seal’s lawyers presented declarations from employees stating that they were routinely reimbursed according to that policy.
Also, the judge in this case heard statements affirming that employees were asked to dress in the style that was consistent with Wet Seals’ product line but not necessarily buy their outfits from Wet Seal. And, if they chose to shop there, they would have received a generous employee discount.
To read more, please visit http://blog.pe.com/economy/2012/11/15/workplace-judge-rules-against-wet-seal-class-action/
