New Class Action Lawsuit Alleges UPS Failed To Deliver On Employee Wages

News provided by

Jul 06, 2016, 05:31 ET

BOSTON, July 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit filed on July 1, 2016 alleges United Parcel Service, Inc. ("UPS") cheated employees out of their rightful wages by failing to pay "Reporting Pay," as required by Massachusetts law.

Massachusetts, like many other states, requires employers to pay employees who show up for their scheduled shift, but are sent home due to a lack of work. This "Reporting Pay" law – as it is known – requires employers in Massachusetts to pay an employee for at least three hours of work, at the minimum wage, for every shift cancelled or shortened after an employee's arrival at the job site.

Cort Szafarz, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, worked as a part-time package handler at UPS from September 2014 to May 2015 in their Chelmsford, Massachusetts facility. He was scheduled to work Monday through Friday from 6pm to 11pm. Although he planned to work for the full shift every weekday, and showed up at the Chelmsford facility every weekday ready to do so, his shift was often cancelled or shortened due to a lack of work. On such days, Mr. Szafarz and others were not paid for at least three hours of work. When Mr. Szafarz complained to Human Resources, he was told, "That's just the way we do it here."

Mr. Szafarz seeks to represent a class of other UPS hourly employees in Massachusetts who, like him, were not paid appropriately when their shifts were cancelled or shortened. Andrea Gold, one of the attorneys representing Mr. Szafarz in the lawsuit, stated, "It's important that employers know they cannot take advantage of their employees. This reporting time law exists for a reason. If employees are scheduled to work, and show up to do that work, they deserve to be compensated in accordance with the law."

The case seeks treble damages and declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of Mr. Szafarz and the many other similarly situated Massachusetts employees who have been denied Reporting Pay by UPS. Mr. Szafarz is represented by Andrea Gold and Sophia Goren of Tycko & Zavareei LLP, and Elizabeth Ryan, John Roddy, and Sandra Henson Kinney of Bailey & Glasser LLP.

Founded by Ben Bailey and Brian Glasser in 1999 in Charleston, West Virginia, Bailey & Glasser LLP has grown to include 51 lawyers, with offices in nine states and the District of Columbia. The firm's complex litigation practice focuses on high-stakes commercial litigation; class actions for consumers, insureds, investors, and retirement plan participants; catastrophic injury and defective product cases; antitrust; and whistleblower lawsuits. The firm has extensive experience in energy law, and litigates energy cases in trial courts, bankruptcy courts, regulatory agencies, and appellate courts. It has a major corporate practice, and handles business matters ranging from assisting Chinese investors in acquiring US assets, to IPOs, to the negotiation and execution of billions of dollars in commercial transactions.

Tycko & Zavareei LLP is a bicoastal law firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and Oakland, CA, and has a long, successful record of litigating complex cases. The firm routinely handles large and complex matters throughout the country, advocating on behalf of individuals fighting for their civil rights, employees asking for their rightful wages, consumers seeking redress for unfair business practices, whistleblowers exposing fraud and corruption, and non-profit entities and businesses facing difficult litigation. www.tzlegal.com.

SOURCE Tycko & Zavareei LLP