Costco named in $50M class action

Issaquah, Wash. Costco is the latest target of a class-action complaint that alleges hourly employees of California warehouse stores were forced to clock out of their shift, but continue working without compensation.

Mary Pytelewski, a full-time clerk who began working for Costco's store in San Marcos, Calif., in 2001, filed the lawsuit on behalf of herself and other Costco employees. The suit was filed Friday in California Superior Court in San Diego County.

According to the suit, Costco ignored state law and refused to provide compensation or benefits for the extra time. The complaint added that the hourly employees were locked inside the warehouse stores every night for approximately 15 minutes after they clocked out of their shifts. During this period, the stores' managers performed closing activities, such as removing jewelry from display cases and emptying cash registers.

The suit involves several hundred Costco employees, all who claim they have worked overtime, either daily or weekly, yet never received compensation. The suit reports that these practices violated the California Labor Code, the California Industrial Welfare Commission Occupational Wage Order, and the Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code.

"Costco is building its business and its competitive advantage at the expense of its other hourly workers," Pytelewski said in a statement. "I pursued every avenue [possible] to remedy this situation through the channels the company makes available, but I was rebuffed and ridiculed at every turn.”

Besides demanding a jury trail, the complaint is seeking damages of $50 million for the class. It also demands that Costco cease and desist from all of its unlawful and unfair employment practices. The group also seeks compensatory damages for the chain’s practice of false imprisonment, as well as the group’s attorneys' fees and court costs.

Costco operates 100 stores in California.