Somehow, we think that this might have something to do with the snail’s pace renovation of the Henry Street Gristedes store – The NY Times reports that a federal judge has ruled that the supermarket chain cheated lower level managers out of over-time pay. Lawyers for the plaintiffs tell the paper they predict a settlement of up to $25 million dollars.
New York Times: Judge Rules…: Granting the workers summary judgment, Judge Crotty ruled that the supermarkets’ department heads and so-called co-managers were hourly employees who were entitled to overtime pay.
He rejected Gristede’s arguments that they were salaried executive workers who, under federal and state law, are generally exempt from receiving time-and-a-half pay for overtime.
Gristede’s maintained that it had been paying weekly salaries to the department heads and co-managers, the No. 3 managers in a store. But Judge Crotty found that they were not salaried because the company often deducted money from their paychecks when they missed part of a day.
In the meantime, the chain’s “valved customers” in Brooklyn Heights are still waiting for the fire damaged Henry Street store to reopen.
