Let's keep going with this California trend. Just before Christmas, a California jury put a lump of coal in Wal-Mart’s stocking. After deliberating for three days, the jury determined that Wal-Mart had violated a state law that mandates a 30-minute unpaid meal break for employees. As a result, Wal-Mart owes class members roughly $57 million for missed meal period and a staggering $115 million in punitive damages. The award of punitive damages may have been driven in part by company documents which appeared to indicate that Wal-Mart executives were not entirely unaware that employees were not taking mandatory meal breaks. Wal-Mart has appealed the verdict, including the appropriateness of punitive damages. Meanwhile, the world’s largest retailer faces similar class actions for meal violations in over 30 states.
Lesson 1: Employers need to make sure that their operations comply with meal break laws, especially if they do business in different states with different requirements. If they don’t, what would otherwise have been a free lunch could become pretty costly.
Lesson 2: Don't go to trial 3 days before Christmas.
Savaglio v. Wal-Mart Inc., Cal. Super. Ct., No. C-835687, verdict 12/22/05.