The Plaintiff: Utne v Home Depot USA Inc

The plaintiff in the case, Utne, filed the class action wage and hour lawsuit in March 2016, claiming Home Depot violated labor laws. While the plaintiff filed suit in 2016, the case was scheduled for trial in 2023.

The Defendant: Utne v Home Depot USA Inc

The defendant in the case, Home Depot USA, is the largest U.S. home improvement retailer in the U.S. The company denies the labor law violation allegations but agreed to settle to avoid costly and uncertain litigation. The company stated that the settlement allowed them to focus on serving their employees and customers. The parties agreed to a settlement with the settlement covering over 272,000 California Home Depot employees (employed since March 8, 2012).

The Case: Utne v Home Depot USA Inc

The case, Utne v Home Depot USA Inc, turned into a long-running class action lawsuit based on allegations that Home Depot underpaid California workers. Home Depot agreed to resolve the case with a $72.5 million settlement to avoid the litigation costs and the uncertainty of litigation. The parties filed the preliminary settlement in San Francisco federal court seeking the judge’s approval. After taking out legal fees and costs (estimated at $24.2 million plus $3.5 million in expenses), the settlement would go to hourly employees who worked the closing shift and waited off the clock after the Home Depot stores were locked for the night. 41% of the settlement is designated for employees who were unpaid for the time they spent off the clock prepping for their shift (putting on their aprons, etc.) And 9% is designated for employees who lost pay due to Home Depot’s standard policy of rounding hours to the nearest quarter hour.

If you have questions about how to file a California class action wage and hour lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.